Trinity of Tokiwadai
by Engineer4Ever
Summary: Three very different girls. Each a powerful Esper in the miraculous city of superhumans, Academy City. Together these heroines and their friends explore the wonder and mystery of their City and its Dark Side as the Trinity of Tokiwadai.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter One: Three Ojou-samas Have An Enthusiastic Walk**

 **Beta:**

* * *

Academy City.

A thriving urban area with a population of 2.3 million, 80% of which are students. A place where these students who call it home, along with its other residents enjoy technology roughly 20 to 30 years more advanced than you'll find anywhere else in the world.

Armed with the most advanced technology known to man, this place serves as the world's leading educational institution for special students who display feats of supernatural power, where the greatest minds of the world have come together to study and help these students to harness these abilities.

These students, or Espers as they are called, come from all parts of the world to take part in the Power Curriculum Program for a chance to harness these abilities.

It was in this miraculous city on a mid-summer day punctuated by the song of the cicadas with the sun's rays shining down brightly on all of the city's denizens that this story begins.

In particular it begins in Tokiwadai Middle School, an all girls' Middle School. One of the top 5 schools of Academy City and possibly the most renowned girl's school in the world. A school so prestigious that it had once sparked an international incident for refusing to admit a girl from a royal family because she wasn't good enough. Something that was a result of its truly exacting entry requirement that required its students to possess an Esper ability of Level 3 or higher.

A fact that had resulted in the school currently having less than 200 students, of which there were currently 47 Level 4 Espers, and the rest being Level 3 Espers and most impressively 4 Level 5 Espers. Considering that at this point there were only 9 Level 5s in the entire world, that Tokiwadai counted almost half that number as its students was amazing.

Currently, one of these treasures of the school was tidying up her things to head home as her last class of the day ended.

The girl in question was Namikaze Naru.

She had long silky blonde hair tied in a pair of pigtails with black ribbons, and sharp cerulean eyes that were currently busy counting her things in a quick sweep of her desk, a small smile coming to her slightly rounded face as she finished. Standing up to her rather diminutive 4 foot 7 inch height, she stretched a little to loosen her muscles after a long day at her seat.

She was dressed like all her classmates around her, a short-sleeved white dress shirt worn under a light brown vest with her school emblem on the left breast and the dark tan pocketed skirt that reached halfway down her thighs that made up her school's uniform, which she complemented with a pair of white sock leggings and brown shoes.

All in all, the young first year middle school girl looked the very picture of childish innocence.

"Namikaze-san." A monotonous, almost robotic voice called out to the blonde. Turning to the source of the call, Naru was surprised to see that it was her classmate and fellow Level 5, Saten Ruiko.

The other girl was much taller than Naru being 5 feet 3 inches, she had dark blue eyes and long black hair with a hair clip in the shape of a small, white flower on the left side of her hair. She was generally regarded as pretty, but that was ruined by the frigid, almost inhuman aura that she radiated. She carried herself as if she was a machine, going about her tasks flawlessly but with no enthusiasm. She never socialized and when talked to often kept her answers short.

So much so that she'd earned herself the moniker of [The Robot].

"You needed something from me, Saten-san?" Naru asked curiously. Saten rarely approached anyone for anything, so the shorter Level 5 was curious to find out what was behind her classmate's odd behavior.

An odd quiet settled over the class of usually giggling and excitedly talking girls, as all eyes shifted towards the two Level 5s.

 _Are they hoping for a fight? A trade of insults?_ Naru scoffed to herself _. Geez, people always want drama for this type of stuff._

"I would like to invite you to a get together after the System Scan tomorrow." Saten explained, seemingly oblivious to the attention from the rest of the class.

System Scan, the regular city-wide testing event in Academy City to determine the Levels of their students. It was conducted differently for different types of Espers and the difficulty rises for each Level.

In a city devoted to the Power Curriculum Program, the System Scan was necessary for compiling the data of the 1.8 million students that made up 80% of the residents in Academy City.

It was this Scan that determined that 60% of said students were Espers and capable of displaying at least some power. While it decreed that the remaining 40% were either Level 0s or part of the small handful of non-Espers who were pursuing intellectual courses that only Academy City could provide.

It was the backbone of the city's society that served to identify the haves and the have nots in the fantastical city of superhumans.

That being said, the System Scan wasn't without its flaws.

"Eh?" Naru was unconcerned with these details however, even if the mere mention of the upcoming Scan brought them involuntarily to mind, instead she fluttered her eyelashes prettily as she blinked. "Really? Last I checked, we weren't exactly besties. So why ask me of all people?"

The blonde's tone held a teasing edge as her lips formed a sly smirk.

"I am aware that we are not any more than acquaintances." Saten replied without missing a beat. "I am merely inviting you because my friend, whom I am meeting tomorrow, has a not-so-secret desire to meet other Level 5s. I would like you to accompany me so as to help her fulfill that desire."

The smaller girl let out a whistle of surprise. "Wow, you have friends...this I have to see. Who could be friends with [The Robot]?"

"So you will accompany me tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure." Naru shrugged her shoulders. Her eyes twinkled with amusement. "Might be fun."

"I'll see you outside the school's gate tomorrow then, [Maniforce]." Saten-san said as she inclined her head and departed from the classroom, which exploded with murmurs and gossip in her wake.

Naru rolled her eyes and left as well, she didn't even want to think of what crazy rumors were going to spread as a result of this interaction.

* * *

Ruiko continued her trip home, well outside the School Garden, which housed the primary Tokiwadai dorms. She was not however handed to the school's Exterior Dormitory located in the City. It was a rare exception for a Tokiwadai student to live outside of the school's dedicated dorms, but Saten was exactly that. The Level 5 lived off campus with her mother. A researcher that worked in the City and who was the head of the team in charge of her personalized Power Development Curriculum, a fact that justified the leeway the school offered her.

Well, part of it anyways. Ruiko's situation was complicated, very much so. To start things off she was adopted. But that was only the tip of the iceberg.

She had a story to her, just like everyone in this city.

A story that started on a day that she remembered most vividly for _blood_. Ruiko was young then, just seven years old.

When she had heard about Academy City, she had -Like nearly every kid she knew- wanted to be an Esper. Even more so when she got the prestigious and hard to acquire invite to study in the city.

Her parents on the other hand held some reservations about the idea and insisted on taking a tour of the famed city along with her little brother before they made a decision on whether they would allow her to attend.

Unfortunately, that fateful decision to take a family trip ended up turning into a tragedy.

Ruiko still didn't remember much of what happened that day.

To say that all she truly remembered was explosions, screams, blood, and death was an apt description. All the level 5 recalled after that was looking on in horror at her family's dead bodies all around her, even as she feebly choked on her own blood.

If it wasn't for that frog faced doctor, she probably wouldn't be here today.

Still, it didn't end there. With no immediate family to return to, and the paperwork to be part of the Power Curriculum Program -A surprise from her late parents- already filed. Ruiko was frankly stuck in Academy City and was thus labeled a Child Error - the City's term for orphans - within the system.

The [Shinobi Invasion Incident] - named after the attackers, who claimed they were ninja -thus left her completely alone and stranded in an alien city.

After that, she bounced around for a while, adrift and numb to the world as she was shuffled from one orphanage to another until she became part of a group slated for participation in an experiment.

The experiment that made her a Level 5.

The mere thought of the experiment awakened the horrible memory of that day once more and Ruiko fought desperately to suppress it. So much so that her brows furrowed, breaking the air of inhuman detachment that she wore like a cloak. Her efforts however were to no avail.

 _~ Flashback ~_

"Sensei, you sure this is safe?" A young Saten asked uncertainly as she sat in a high tech pod as she and the other Child Errors in her group were prepared for the experiment that they had been assigned to.

"Of course, Ruiko." Came the reply from a pretty woman with short brown hair and seemingly permanent bags under her eyes. She was dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt and a brown pencil skirt which she had topped off with a long white coat as befitting her role as a researcher. Though that was not what Ruiko and the orphans in her group knew her as.

To them she was the beloved teacher that had been taking care of them for the better part of the year. She had come into their lives and singlehandedly made it fun in a way they had never expected with her love and care, and her lack of common sense.

Ruiko, and all her fellows trusted her.

It was why at her confident assurances and encouragement, they lay down in the pods, their fears forgotten.

Unfortunately, things did not turn out as Sensei had intended.

Pain! Complete and utter pain engulfed Ruiko as the machine started. Her vision blurred and her thoughts began to become fuzzy and voices both hers and not filled her mind.

 _~ Flashback ends ~_

 _Memory suppression complete._ A utterly monotonous voice echoed within her mind.

She didn't need to recall the utter agony that left her brothers and sisters, the other Child Errors, comatose and her completely changed. It had awakened the powers she had sought for so long, but which she now considered nothing more than a curse.

Pushing these thoughts out of her mind, she pulled out her cellphone, tapping her quick call list and held it up to her ear. After a ring or two, a voice picked up that made a smile form on the usually stoic girl's face.

"Yo, U~i~ha~ru!"

" _Saten-san! It's great to hear from you, are we still on for tomorrow after the System Scan?"_

"Yeah, of course!" Ruiko let out a giggle. "I've even got a surprise for you if you do well!"

" _Wah?! Bu-But-! I don't have something to give back, geez! You can't just drop this on me now Saten-san! It's not fair!"_

The Level 5 bit her cheek, she could imagine Uiharu panicking at her desk in the 177th Judgement office. For a moment, she was tempted to use a power or two to see if her expression was like she imagined but held back. Her friend wouldn't appreciate it.

"Well, I'll call again tomorrow before the meet up, ok? Bye, Uiharu~!"

" _Saten-sa-!"_

Ruiko flipped her phone shut, guffawing to herself as she walked towards home, gaining her a number of looks from the people around her, but she ignored them. She didn't care what other people thought.

Okay, maybe hanging up on her friend like that was a bit mean, but she just loved to tease Uiharu.

Gently stroking her flower hairclip - a treasured gift from her friend -, a serene smile spread on her face as she recalled how she first met her only friend. Yeah, the Level 5 wouldn't be who she was today without that stubborn little girl she met on that day.

It had been a few months before she got into Tokiwadai and she had been wandering around the City while her adoptive mother had been at work and/or busy trying to figure out how to get her into a school. She remembered well how much of a robot she was then, much worse than she was now, and how that had made Uiharu come to investigate the, in her friend's words, "sad girl".

After that for months, every morning before school, Uiharu would come to find Saten in the same park. And through sheer perseverance, she did what Ruiko had thought was impossible, opened her up.

Ruiko couldn't have hoped for a better friend. And she was willing to do almost anything for her. It was why she had decided on joining Tokiwadai over the many other options available to her. All to satisfy her friends' obsession with knowing a ojou-sama which was what the school was credited with producing.

Arriving at her home, a modest two storey house. She headed over to the front door which she opened quickly with her key, only to grimace as a wave of heat hit her the moment that she pushed the door open.

"The air conditioning is broken again?" She asked while taking her shoes off.

"I'm a scientist with multiple degrees...but that blasted thing just won't work. It's officially mocking me, Ruiko." A voice replied from inside the home.

"Ah, I see." The Level 5 said even as she called on her cryokinesis to cool the air around her to a more tolerable level. Entering the living room she spotted her mother, Kiyama Harumi, lazing on the couch. The same researcher that had served as her beloved teacher and been in charge of the experiment that had awakened her powers. The woman who was now dressed in only her undergarments, probably as a result of the heat.

With a quick scan of the air conditioning unit with her Clairvoyance, the Level 5 determined the problem in no time flat.

"It's the run capacitor." The girl said with a hand on her hip, offering a tiny smile.

"Ugh, I'll buy a replacement tomorrow." The older woman said, rolling on the couch.

"Or you could have called someone to service it when it first broke." Ruiko accused with a sigh, knowing that that would never even have occurred to her mother. She had changed in many ways over the years, but her lack of common sense was something that had remained the same.

Her mother peeked over her shoulder, a frown directed towards the girl. "Oh yeah, I could have done that. I'll do that tomorrow."

"Or I could fix it." Ruiko mused absently as she picked up her mother's clothes. Clothes that the woman had carelessly discarded throughout the living room.

"If I let you do that, you'll make me wash the dishes. For a week."

"Well, a quick fix usually comes with its consequences." Ruiko said with a finger held up in the air.

"When did you become such a tyrant?"

Ruiko offered the older woman a dry look. "When I started taking care of _you_."

"Ah. That's a fair assessment."

"And Kaa-san."

"Yes?"

"Put some clothes on, the shades are open…"

Kiyama looked down, taking in how she was wearing nothing but a bra and panties. They were not even the flattering kind.

"I don't see the problem, it's just like wearing a bathing suit…"

"That's not the point!" Ruiko said in exasperation even as she dropped the collected pile of clothes on her mother's face. "Just get dressed, please."

And this was her guardian, who she loved with all her heart.

Why did Ruiko feel like she was doing the mothering most of the time?

* * *

 **Some time earlier**

Shortly after Saten had left, Naru followed suit. However, as soon as she exited the building, she was swarmed by her personal gaggle of groupies.

Within the walls of Tokiwadai there were factions, both big and small, of girls who would join together to pursue common interests. These Tokiwadai version of cliques, generally operated like the social clubs in other schools but with the difference in that unlike those clubs they tended more easily to gel around various noteworthy individuals.

It was thus no surprise that the three biggest factions were each tied to the Level 5s.

There was the Railgun Faction who were naturally made up of all the fans of the [Railgun], Misaka Mikoto, the Number 5 Level 5, the strongest Electromaster. Misaka didn't lead it though, and she in fact found it quite the annoyance. Instead it was simply a big fan club that made up its own faction.

Next was [The Queen]'s Faction, directly led by the Number 7 Level 5 Shokuhou Misaki, also known as [Mental Out]. Being the most powerful telepath in Academy City, it wasn't hard to figure out how she got a lot of her followers, but still, she had a knack for rallying girls to her ever expanding web of control that was above and beyond her powers. It was certainly the biggest faction in the school.

And finally, the Rabbit Faction (A name that had been decided under heavy protest!), led offhandedly by the Number 2 Level 5, Namikaze Naru, the [Maniforce]. The name of her faction had come about because one, she was considered highly cute amongst her peers, and two, because the pigtails she usually styled her hair into made her look like a lop rabbit. Or kitten -A baby rabbit- because of her size.

In layman's terms, her faction's name come about because girls her age were way too focused on all things cute!

Now, don't get Naru wrong, she loved her devoted 'followers' but they could be a bit of a pain at times.

Don't even get her started on how well her and the [Queen]'s faction got along just because the two blonde Level 5s were very good acquaintances.

That was a migraine for another day.

There should logically have been a fourth major faction centred around the school's fourth Level 5, Saten Ruiko, [Multi-Skill]. But between her inhuman mannerisms, more robotic than anything else, and her lack of interest in her peers. It never got off the ground.

Naru's musings on the state of affairs in her school were interrupted when her 'followers' began speaking to her.

"Naru-sama! Are you really going out with the super boring girl tomorrow?!"

"She's weird!"

"Totally creepy!"

"It's a waste of your time! We could go shopping instead?"

"I like that! I know a good accessory place!"

Naru mentally rolled her eyes, but smiled at her personal entourage. "Girls, quiet down. I'm just helping another Level 5 out is all, nothing more than that. Please tell everyone that."

Seriously, Ruiko was so broken due to the Dark Side, she honestly needed all the help she could get. Plus, Naru would be lying if she said she wasn't curious about [The Robot]'s mysterious friend.

"Kyaa! Naru-sama is so generous!"

"As expected of the Number 2, leading the other Level 5s down proper paths!"

"So amazing, oh, I wish Naru-sama would teach me too!"

"You're only a Level 3, what could Naru-sama help you with?"

"Don't be rude. Just because someone is a lower Level doesn't mean they are less important." Naru lectured chidingly.

"That's not what I meant…"

Naru gave the girls a mock salute and a wink that earned a squeal from a few, "Gotta go, homework to do. Bye!"

The Level 5 disappeared in a blink.

Reappearing in midair ahead of her cluster of groupies, she let the air currents coil around her petite body as she manipulated them to soar into the skies. After a few minutes of flight, she spotted a tall building and decided it was the perfect spot for a break. Landing, she took a seat on the roof and dangled her legs over on the edge.

"Man, those girls are total weirdos." She wrinkled her nose and laid back to stare at the clouds as they floated by.

 _ **Heh, generous they say. I wonder what they would say if they saw the**_ **real** _ **you.**_

 _Well, look whose fuzzy tailed booty woke up. Nice nap?_

 _ **It was nice, until the high pitched pains in the ass that are your cult woke me up with their screeching.**_

 _It's not a cult!_

 _ **That's not what their base instincts are telling them…**_

 _Thank you for that image, I needed that. Really._ Naru replied sarcastically, as she rubbed her temples in frustration.

 _ **I'm nothing but perfectly honest with you, Naru.**_

 _And yet it causes me pain in the process. You are just the best...not. Don't make me call [The Queen] to arrange for some Cuddle Time._

 _ **...You are a monster. I respect that and I'm going to shut up now.**_

 _Smart move._

Naru felt smug after that little verbal spar with her own personal demon that sat within her gut.

Yeah, how that happened was a long story.

 _~ Flashback ~_

Fire, blood, and death was the only way to describe the scene a young Naru was witnessing through the eyes of the demon fox, Kurama. A name she forced out of the fox by torturing it by using her powers to twist its chakra, its very being, against itself. Having finally broken the monster sealed inside her, at least to a sufficient extent that she trusted the creature not to lie to her, she had decided it was time for it to show her her past from before her time in Academy City. Something the creature was one of the, perhaps the only, being that was capable of doing.

" **Pretty brutal huh?"** The titanic beast's muzzle rumbled within the large metallic room that was the girl's 'soul'. Or at least that was what the demon claimed it to be. She would have to do some studying on that, before she accepted it for fact.

"Hm, looks like some of the war videos I've seen with Testament." The child said, reaching for the image to only have her hand go through it.

" **And all** _ **that**_ **because you were born."** The fox snidely commented as it gestured with one of its tails towards the projection that it was broadcasting for the girl on one of the walls of its cage.

The Level 5 looked annoyed. "So? It's not all my fault. If anyone is to blame it's you. You look so pleased to be free that you're hardly in control of yourself. Just mindlessly destroying everything. If you only could be mindless all the time. You're too opinionated for someone shackled to my will."

A growl came from the demon at the mild jab, clearly holding its tongue to avoid further punishment.

 _Good. He's learned his place._

She watched as the demon in the memory before her was crushed by a large toad of all things and then the fox was teleported away in a flash of yellow.

"That's interesting." She muttered at seeing the unusual teleportation. To use it on something so massive? That had to be taxing to the user, who must have been at least a top tier Level 4 Teleporter. Possibly even a Level 5 considering the fox's mass and the distance involved.

" **If you somehow learn to do that type of teleporting, I will never talk to you again."**

That made the power all the more interesting. The demon's threat was hollow anyway, if she wanted something from him, she could easily use her power to twist it out of him.

It was then that golden chains erupted from the ground within the memory and formed into a dome that tethered around the beast, pinning him down like the people in one of those weird internet videos that she wasn't supposed to watch.

The demon let loose a shiver even as he grunted in annoyance.

 _Interesting._ The young girl mused as she read its mind to see what had the demon all riled up. _It seems upset by its impersonation of a sub in an S &M video._

 _ **Fuck. Well, at least she didn't get that broken chain power.**_

"I can hear your thoughts. You know that right?" Naru reminded him with a disapproving pout. "Swear again and you'll be punished, got it?"

" **Understood**." Kurama acknowledged in a low growl.

Naru continued to watch, frowning as her parents were skewered by the demon's large claw to protect her baby self. A pang of sadness came from within her heart as her parents offered their last words that she probably wouldn't have ever remembered.

The feeling honestly surprised her. She'd never known her parents and was more than satisfied with her life. It was all she'd ever known and she'd never been truly unhappy with her lot, not even with all the training she had undergone as a Level 5 and agent for the City's General Superintendent. As such, that she would feel any attachment to her birth parents, that she'd never known, was unexpected.

Her mother started rambling then.

"Naru… Don't be picky. Eat lots and grow strong. Make sure that you bathe every day and stay warm… Also, don't stay up late. You need lots of sleep…" The Level 5 shook her head in annoyance as her mother's last words turned out to be inane rubbish.

"And make friends.. You don't need a lot of friends. Just a few. Ones you can really, really trust." The woman in the memory continued, Naru just looked disinterested at that one.

 _Friends? Like someone on the Dark Side can afford that._

"I wasn't very good at it, but keep up with your studies and practice your ninjutsu hard."

"I'm not a ninja…" Naru mumbled as she begun to completely tune the woman out.

"Oh, there's so much more that I want to pass on to you…" The woman in the memory forced out as she very obviously, to Naru's trained eyes, neared her limits. A fact that caused the girl to return her attention to the memory. "I wish I could stay with you longer… I love you."

Naru blinked at that. _Love me? Someone you don't even know? How?_

She could feel a burst of emotion from the fox, it seemed almost like pity. The blonde shot the creature a withering glare. "Know your place. I don't need your pity."

The fox just looked away.

"Naruto…" The image of her father in the memory said, catching Naru's attention once more and causing her to redirect her focus. "This is your father… well my words to you are the same, just listen to your motor mouth mother. And stay away from boys."

Naru totally agreed, her mother was a motor mouth. But staying away from boys? She couldn't agree more, they're icky.

 _Don't tell me what to do, it's not like you raised me._

The man's hands started rapidly performing some kind of handsigns and then there was a great flash of light. As the light faded, a spectral creature had suddenly manifested itself hovering over Naru's body.

"What is that?" Naru asked curiously.

" **The Shinigami."** Was all Kurama said on the matter, shivering at the sight of the god.

"So they can summon gods? Huh, so they've tied their esper powers with magic." Naru's blue eyes glimmered. "Merging the two? Fascinating."

It was a strict rule in her world that Science and Magic didn't mix. So to see that the people in her birth world had done so was truly interesting.

Maybe some day the two could merge. This very notion proved that it was possible, they just had to find how to make it possible.

While she was musing on the likelihood of this long held dream, the god in the memory had split Kurama's essence into two halves before sealing one half into her infant body and the other into her father's dying body.

The memory grew choppy then, the fox was obviously disoriented by what had happened.

What followed was just a series of images barely clear enough to be discernible: her father performing a series of handsigns only to stumble midway, a yellow flash, a lab, being presented to a man floating upside down in a tube filled with a strange liquid...

 _~ Flashback End ~_

A ringtone chimed from her pocket, breaking Naru from the memory as she sat up. Reaching into her skirt pocket, she produced a small device similar in appearance to a Bluetooth headset. This was not just a headset though, rather it was a full fledged smartphone. One of the many advanced gadgets that was available exclusively within Academy City. Unlike a conventional phone it exploited the City's advanced electronics and materials technology to create a retractable touch screen hidden in the frame, allowing it to have full functionality despite its small size.

Pulling the screen out to see who was calling, she smirked as she noted who the caller was. Putting it to her ear, she answered the call. "Superintendent? How's it floating?"

" _I have an assignment for you."_ A androgynous voice replied.

"I see. So, who did what?"

" _A group stole a prototype helm for a portable Testament."_

Naru hummed at that. "You want this down as fast and quietly as possible. Even from our own side. That's why you're calling me, right? So, targets?"

" _As usual, keen to get to the point."_ The Superintendent of the City said in clear amusement. _"A rogue scientist. It seems he was offered a king's ransom by a Government that shan't be named."_

"It was the CIA again, wasn't it?" The Level 5 teased.

" _Yes."_ The leader of Academy City replied in a cold, disapproving tone.

"Do we want to send them a reply after I sweep this up?"

" _Leave their heads intact and I'll have someone else handle the rest._ "

"Well, you're the boss, Superintendent. I'll get right on it!" Naru chirped, offering a salute. He no doubt saw it through UNDER_LINE, or at least she hoped so. With that done, she started to float in the air.

" _I'll send their location to your phone. Do not dawdle, [Maniforce]."_

"Don't worry, I'll only mess with them a little bit."

Her smile turned toothy.

* * *

Crossing her arms, Naru stared down at the group hastily moving through the maze of warehouses that made up the majority of the School District 11.

 _Hm. From the military precision of their formation, these guys are definitely Pros._ Naru mused as she silently stalked them from the rooftops. She counted about ten men who were about to die.

Time to thin the herd.

She pointed a finger towards one of the men in the rear and he vanished in a blink, only to appear stuck halfway in a wall right by the formation. His now headless body thudded to the ground, blood spurting from the severed arteries in his neck.

Withholding a giggle, Naru moved back to the edge of the rooftop and watched the panic ensue.

"What was that?!" The lone unarmed man in the group screamed. She noted the large case in his grasp and figured that her objective was likely inside. From the way he carried himself, he was obviously not a professional like the others. Probably the scientist they convinced to help them steal the prototype in exchange for protection after he defected with it.

 _So nine agents. One scientist._ Naru counted to herself. _That's nine more to go._

"Group up!" The clear commander ordered as they entered a circle formation.

Naru just pointed at two more of her targets, who promptly disappeared. A moment later all that remained of the two men were their upper bodies sticking out of the ground where they had stood. Both men screamed in agony until one of their compatriots finished them off with a couple of headshots, leaving the scientist aghast.

 _Mercy kills? Or summarily executing the liabilities?_ Naru mused as she teleported herself to new cover, just in case. _Either way their screams will draw a crowd soon. Alright, time to sweep this up fast._

Calling on her chakra, she slashed her arm in the direction of the men. She teleported away immediately afterwards, as they unleashed a hail of bullets on where she'd been. Some of the bullets however were cut clean in half mid-flight as the wind blade that Naru had conjured cut through them like the deadly weapon it was. One of which struck down three of the men by decapitating them.

The esper didn't stop to admire her bloody handiwork however as she promptly unleashed a beam of plasma from her hand that shot through the body of another of the Americans, burning a massive hole in his body.

The two remaining armed men spun to face the general direction where her attack had originated from and opened fire. But they were too slow, she'd teleported to safety already.

From her latest position, she eyed her next target. Taking a deep breathe, she filled her lungs to full capacity before she quickly exhaled, allowing her chakra to do its job and transform the air she released into a high pressure stream of water. Cutting off the flow of chakra, she teleported away even as the water sailed through the air like a javelin and impaled another of the agents through the heart.

The scientist had started panicking by this point and was making a hell of a racket as he screamed, clearly terrified by the carnage. It was getting on Naru's nerves so she decided to make his death particularly gruesome. With a demented smile, Naru teleported him so that he had only the front half of his body, including his arms clutching the case with her objective tightly, remained while the rest had been shoved into the upper dimensions as her teleport partially failed from deliberately trying to move him into a lying position half-submerged into the ground.

"Whoever you cowards are, show yourselves." The last man standing, the commander, said as he scanned the rooftops with his fancy looking weapon.

The others had been armed with more standard hardware. But the survivor, Naru idly noted, seemed to be equipped with one of the Americans' top secret railgun rifles.

Hm, she'd have to bring it back. Maybe it had some worth. If nothing else, the City's scientists could compare it to their own designs and see if they could improve their version somehow.

For now though it was quite the threat, honestly speaking. If he hit her with it, even once, she'd be dead.

But that wasn't going to happen.

Fearlessly, the Level 5 leaped from her perch and landed in a patch of shadows. They were still obscuring her features but the man spotted her nonetheless and leveled his rifle at her.

"What? Just one of you?!" The now terrified man said in shock. Perhaps he'd recognized what that meant. There were only two espers who could have pulled off what she'd done alone after all, both of them Level 5s.

"You don't recognize me even after all that?" Naru said, the bloodthirsty smile still on her face as she stepped out of the shadows. "And you call yourself a secret agent?"

"[Maniforce]!" The agent hissed in alarm as he recoiled, shuffling back.

"Yup. Who else could it be? [Multi-Skill]? Sorry, but I mainly work inside Academy City. She used to handle things outside our walls. Geez, get your facts right." Naru said wagging her finger at the man, not even fazed as she was forced to teleport as he fired off a shot.

"You've been naughty~!" The blonde sang out, as she reappeared a few feet in front of him, still wagging her finger. "I think you need punishment."

A blue fiery aura enshrouded her as she giggled manically.

"You're going right to the block!"

* * *

The next day, Naru hummed and walked with a skip her step as she headed towards the main gate of Tokiwadai. As she approached, she quickly spotted [The Robot] waiting there, standing like a statue.

Man, all she had to do was paint herself and she'd pass for someone doing a living statue performance.

"Hi Saten-san, wait long?" Naru asked politely as she reached the taller girl.

Said girl merely nodded to acknowledge Naru's presence before turning to begin the walk to the light rail station, replying as she did so.

"Greetings, Namikaze-san. I waited precisely 11 minutes 23 seconds."

"Sorry, my team wanted to test some new theories on my pyrokinesis." The blonde said.

"There is no need for an apology." The other Level 5 replied in her usual monotone. "I merely arrived early due to an unexpectedly speedy bus ride from my testing facility."

"Oh right." Naru said with a nod. "You do your System Scan at a specialized facility off campus. I'd forgotten about that."

The brunette nodded.

"So what are we doing? Some shopping? Arcade? Mani-pedis?"

"You shall see." Saten replied with an enigmatic smile that stunned Naru. She hadn't thought the other Level 5 was still capable of something like that.

"Oh come on!" Naru whined, hoping that whatever strange mood that had gripped her classmate would continue. The other girl deserved the chance to feel some emotion sometimes. "Can't you tell me? Just a little? A smidge?"

[Multi-Skill] remained mute however, and continued to do so for the rest of the way to the train station and even on the ride over. The only sign that she hadn't completely forgotten she was even there was when the other girl directed her towards the train line they needed to take and signaled when they had reached their stop. Though if the barely there gleam of mischief in the taller girl's usually emotionless eyes were any indication, this was completely deliberate.

 _Thank goodness._ Naru thought to herself as the duo worked their way through the tide of humanity that the after school rush hour had spawned to exit the station. _So Saten-san isn't completely lost. She's not a robot, just a cyborg. There's a human under all that damage after all._

 _ **So what? Why do you even care if that's the case or not?**_ Kurama scoffed from the depths of its seal.

 _After all the garbage she's been put through, she deserves some happiness. We may have crazy powers, but we all have a human side to us, Kurama._

 _ **Why the sudden sympathy?**_ The fox asked suspiciously. _**You're not going soft on me are you?**_

 _Puh-lease! You saw what I did last night. Is that me going soft?_

 _ **It could have been more bloody.**_

 _...What are you? My critic?_

 _ **Someone's gotta be.**_ The chakra being said while broadcasting its smirk to its host.

Any reply that Naru might have made to her quite literal inner demon was preempted by the shock of seeing what Saten proceeded to do.

"Uiharu!" The normally stoic Level 5 said happily as she rushed forward and grabbed a girl that had been loitering at the station's entrance in a fierce hug, surprising the girl who had been distractedly looking at her phone in the process.

She was just a little taller than Naru, her black tresses cropped short and strangely wore a flower crown of all things on her head. Her eyes were a pretty golden-brown framed by thick eyebrows.

"Uwa! Saten-san! Don't sneak up on me!"

"Hehe, sorry~!" Saten stuck out her tongue and bonked her head. She paused, gaining a sly look. "Hm, so what's today's color?"

"Wha?" Uiharu and Naru asked.

And then Saten flipped Uiharu's skirt up.

Uiharu had a strange look on her face at this, a mix of resigned and stunned. Meanwhile Naru's jaw dropped.

 _Who are you and where's [The Robot]?!_

 _ **Huh, weird.**_ The fox muttered as he too reeled at the surprising turn of events.

"I see, pink polka dots. Innocent as always, Uiharu."

"Saten-san!" The flower wearing girl squeaked with a red face, desperately holding her skirt down.

"Uh, I'm lost. What just happened?" Naru asked, as she barely managed to contain the urge to ask Saten if she'd been somehow replaced by a pod person.

"I'm checking if Uiharu remembered to wear her panties."

"Of course I'd remember something like that! I only forgot once!" The girl with the flower crown in her hair declared indignantly, glaring at her friend as she did so.

"And I am making sure it never happens again." Saten replied evenly, even as her eyes veritably glowed with mischief.

"Saten, just...just tell me what we are doing before I have a heart attack. I can only take so much today." Naru declared with wide eyes, holding a hand to her chest.

"Uiharu?"

"Wha- Why ask me?"

"I set this whole thing up for you, of course you get to decide what we do." Saten explained with a smile. "Besides you did say you wanted to meet up with your Judgement partner later."

Uiharu flushed, even as she glared at Saten. "That's sweet, Saten-san. I really appreciate it."

She crossed her arms and her glare intensified though as she continued. "But did you have to embarrass me in front of an Ojou-sama? So cruel, Saten-san."

Saten just waved the protest away. "Forget about Namikaze-san. She's not much of an ojou-sama. She's more like me."

Naru noticed the girl's eyes grow wide in surprise at that, almost as if there was some hidden meaning in Saten's words that only her friend could decipher.

"My fans state otherwise." Naru snorted in rebuttal, shaking off her suspicions about whatever secret Saten had passed on. She could think on it later. She adjusted her bag in her hand and put a hand on her hip. "So let's get this over with."

"Let's." Saten affirmed, her voice dripping with mischief. "But before we do anything, shouldn't we exchange introductions?"

Naru looked at Uiharu's skirt. "I think I got introduced real well with your friend, [Multi-Skill]."

Uiharu blushed, but ignored the comment and offered the blonde Level 5 a bow. "My name is Uiharu Kazari, Level 1, a first year student at Sakugawa Middle School and member of Judgement. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Bowing her head in kind, the blonde said. "Namikaze Naru, Level 5, a first year at Tokiwadai Middle School. A pleasure as well."

The new girl inhaled sharply, stars in her eyes. "[The Rabbit]? I'd thought I'd misheard when Saten-san said your name earlier. But you're really her?"

Naru's eye twitched. That damnable name! Nonetheless, she nodded.

"You're as pretty as they say!" Uiharu gushed, her hands on her cheeks. "You look so adorably huggable!"

"What?" The blonde asked in confusion.

"Nothing!"

"Great." Saten said impatiently. "Now that we're introduced and Uiharu has had her daily dose of being starstruck, let's go. Where to Uiharu?"

"Panties in a twist?" Naru teased with a smirk.

Saten seemed to have ignored her, but Naru would keep pushing her buttons. She wanted to see how human [The Robot] could be.

 _Looks like this little outing just got a whole lot more interesting._

 _ **Whatever you say.**_ The ancient demon replied disinterestedly.

Naru ignored Kurama and instead paid attention to the way Saten was behaving around her friend.

 _Friend. Damn. I never thought [The Robot] would ever have something like that._ Naru mused as she observed the two other girls banter back and forth a little. The Level 1 berating the Level 5 for being hasty and rude. _Much less one who can work such miracles with her personality just by being around._

Uiharu apparently deciding that scolding Saten was getting nowhere turned to consult the clock on her phone. "We have about an hour till we need to meet Shirai-san. Maybe we can go grab lunch first?"

"Sounds like a plan." Naru said, while Saten nodded.

With all parties agreed, the trio of girls set off for lunch.

* * *

"One of my fans?"

The girl who asked this question was dressed in a Tokiwadai uniform with white sock leggings and shorts underneath her skirt. Her chestnut brown hair was straight and brushed her shoulders as her matching eyes looked at her companion skeptically. This was Misaka Mikoto, the City's Number 5 Level 5.

"More a fan of Level 5s in general. She's a girl I know from Judgement." A shorter girl who was similarly dressed in a Tokiwadai uniform with tawny hair tied into two curly pigtails tied in place by red bows while the rest of her hair was left to hang as two rows of fringes divided in the middle. "She serves as my backup at the 177th Branch. She's really devoted to Level 5s, always asking to meet you even if it's only for a few minutes."

"Still a fan, Kuroko." Mikoto said as her friend cringed, though she tilted her head in confusion for a moment. "Though of Level 5s? Not of one specifically?"

"Now, Onee-sama, that may be rare but not unheard of, right?" Shirai Kuroko, the girl from Judgment said with a shake of her head. "Besides, isn't it better this way? I know that lately your fans have been becoming more and more annoying and you have little enough patience for meeting them. But I think you'll find that Uiharu is different and not just because she's a Level 5 fan and not yours exclusively. She's a reasonable, polite girl."

The older girl didn't look convinced, so Kuroko continued trying to persuade her.

"Besides which, she's one of the few people I actually consider my friend." Kuroko said in a heartfelt tone, which drew Mikoto's attention. She didn't think Kuroko could sound so sincere. "So, really, I'm asking you to do it for me. And since I know how busy you are, I've taken the liberty of arranging an orderly schedule for the day."

She pulled out a small black book and began to look through the pages. "I'm pretty sure you'll find it to your liking. Hey!"

The Judgement member cried out as the [Railgun] snatched the book right out of her hands.

Mikoto stared at the pages as she read their contents slowly and intently.

"Let's see what we have here. Date plan with Onee-sama using Uiharu as a ruse.

[Part 1: Foster friendship at a family restaurant.

Part 2: Lingerie shopping (purchase big sexy underwear)

Part 3: Shopping at a perfume store (purchase aphrodisiac)

Ditch Uiharu, and go to an upscale but discreet hotel with Onee-sama.]"

Mikoto snapped the book closed, making Kuroko gulp nervously.

"In other words, you're just using this reasonable, polite girl you call your friend, in order to fulfill your own perverted desires, is that right?" Misaka accused, sparks dancing across her forehead as she leveled a glare at her friend.

The shorter esper wilted into her seat. "Well, you see, not really."

"I thought you were trying to make my life less stressful!" Mikoto snarled, reaching over to pinch Kuroko's cheeks violently.

"You've got it all wrong, Onee-sama!" Kuroko pleaded with tears prickling her eyes. "I swear! It wasn't like that!"

Mikoto relented and let go, sitting back in her seat, while crossing her arms and looking to the side. "Even so, you say she's a friend of yours, Kuroko, so what choice is there."

At her words, Kuroko's eyes widened and she smiled broadly. She teleported right into the Level 5's lap, encircling her arms around her neck. "Oh, my... Onee-sama! Onee-sama, sweet Onee-sama! At last you reveal how deeply you care about my happiness! I could die! I could die right now from hearing that!"

She moved in for a kiss, but Mikoto held a hand to her forehead, keeping her back.

A cough caught their attention and they both turned to see an embarrassed waitress shifting nervously at their table. And also most of the restaurant was staring at them. "Excuse me, Miss. I'm terribly sorry but you're beginning to frighten the other customers."

Embarrassed by the scene she'd caused, Mikoto turned to hide her blush, only to catch a glimpse outside the window and two people that she really did not want to see right now.

 _[Maniforce]_ and _[The Robot]?!_

Mikoto could only do what came naturally to her at times like this and socked Kuroko on the head.

It might not have helped the situation, but it certainly made the Level 5 feel better.

* * *

"Honestly [Railgun]," Namikaze tittered, hiding her smile with her hand. The blue orbs that were her eyes, shimmering with mischief. "Doing _that_ in public? How risque."

The group were standing outside the restaurant since they didn't want to cause more of a scene.

They hadn't been kicked out, Mikoto swore. Just kindly asked to leave.

Sadly, the hot tempered brunette's stress levels were going through the roof right now as she forced herself to grit her teeth and bear with the other Level 5's insinuating comments.

 _It's her game, Mikoto. Don't let her draw you in!_

"I even took a picture to commemorate the moment." Namikaze said, fiddling with her phone. Smiling at the picture and doing who knows what else with it.

 _...Murder her!_ The brunette's rage demanded, and in that moment Mikoto was sorely tempted to do as it asked.

"Can I get a copy?" Kuroko asked excitedly.

 _Correction, murder them both. Now, where to hide the bodies?_

"Are they always like this, Saten-san?" Uiharu, apparently Kuroko's Judgement friend, asked the remaining Level 5.

Saten nodded, and replied in a shockingly lively voice. "Most times I've observed them, yes."

 _Well, at least she's still overly formal in the way she talks._ The oldest girl in the group noted, reassured by this sign that not everything in her world was going crazy. It was still strange though.

Namikaze caught her attention, and Mikoto glanced at her only to receive a look that said: _I know it's weird, right?_

Well, she was glad she wasn't the only one who thought so.

"So, introduction time." Kuroko said sounding just as confused as everyone else by Saten's uncharacteristic behavior.

"Misaka-san's right hand gal, right?" Namikaze said with a smile directed towards Kuroko.

The Teleporter just puffed her small chest up. "But of course!"

Mikoto had an annoyed look. She just knew that Usagi-chibi was insulting her somehow.

"This is Uiharu Kazari, my best friend." Saten said suddenly stepping almost defensively in front of the short haired brunette.

 _Wait, since when did Saten ever have friends?!_

Unaware of Mikoto's thoughts, Saten continued with the introductions. "Uiharu, these are Misaka Mikoto, the [Railgun], she's your partner Shirai Kuroko's roommate."

"I'm pretty sure someone like Shirai-san should be the one boasting about that, Saten-san." Namikaze pointed out airily.

Saten actually looked irked for a flash of a second, but quickly returned to her eerily happy facade. "I am merely introducing Misaka-san to my friend."

Kuroko just looked at everyone in confusion.

Mikoto snorted. Leave it to Namikaze to push [The Robot]'s buttons somehow. She honestly wouldn't expect anything less from someone associated with [The Queen].

Banishing the thought of the fake fat boobed blonde from her mind, Mikoto bowed to Uiharu. "It's nice to meet you, Uiharu-san. I'm Misaka Mikoto."

The oddly sad looking girl nodded in greeting, looking away from Saten and letting a smile spread across her face as she bowed in return.

"It's nice to meet you, Misaka-san."

"So now that we're all introduced." Namikaze cut in, sounding impatient. "What are we going to do? Been in the dark for a while now."

"The time table has been thrown off somewhat but I've made a schedule for today that I think should work for every-" Kuroko began, only for Mikoto to cut her off.

"No, you weren't."

"Uiharu?" Saten asked, sounding unbelievably warm. "Any ideas?"

"Not really, sorry." She said apologetically before she shot her friend a hopeful glance. "Any suggestions, Saten-san?"

[Multi-Skill] tilted her head slightly and Mikoto detected a build up of electromagnetic waves around the other Level 5.

 _Seems she's still doing her hacking. And she's checking her friend's phone? I guess she forgot what 'Privacy' means._

The [Railgun] was idly tempted to counter-hack, but held herself back. She was trying to be friendly today. So it was best to not go picking a fight over something so minor.

"There's a crepe shop nearby offering a special discount today."

Namikaze beamed. "Now that's what I'm talking about, I'm starved."

The little glutton tended to be.

"I dunno. I'm not really in the mood for dessert." Mikoto said shooting a wary eye at Kuroko who she knew would exploit her going for dessert to score an indirect kiss by requesting they share. At the very least, and likely much more. Then again she'd likely do that whatever they did.

Sure enough, the teleporter was all for the idea. "Onee-sama~! Come on, it'll be fun."

"The shop is giving out limited edition Gekota merchandise as part of the offer." Saten chimed in, with a mischievous look in her eyes.

"The hook is out, [Railgun]~!" Namikaze sang out as she skipped ahead of them and tilted her head as she looked back. "You gonna take it?"

Mikoto felt her legs go rigid at the mention of her favorite mascot character.

"Hook? I don't know what you're talking about." The Electromaster said anyway, trying to deny the fact that she liked something that even she found childish. Childish or not, she couldn't fight her love for the cute green frog.

"I beg to differ." Saten said with an annoying smile that shone with mischief. Since when did she get so much expressive, huh?! "Do you not have a Gekota plushie, a Gekota keychain, a Gekota PVC figure, a Gekota-"

"I think she even has Gekota undies too." Namikaze giggled.

"How do you know that?!" Mikoto snapped, eyes wide.

"I didn't...you just confirmed it."

The Number 5 felt like a stooge. These two, they were totally throwing her off balance and right into their nefarious pace!

"Fine!" Mikoto said, glaring at the other girls. "Let's just head off to that crepe place and be done with it."

"Now now, Onee-sama. Don't cry." Kuroko said in a soothing tone.

"I'm not!"

 **0 break line 0**

The group of five walked towards the crepe stand to find it swamped by a throng of tourists and other students.

As they approached Saten and Uiharu ended up leading the way, the remaining three girls hanging back. Which was fitting as the three exchanged shocked looks at each other, shooting glances at the other two girls as they did. It was obvious they were all surprised by the surprisingly warm way that Saten was behaving.

"Why are there so many people here?" Uiharu wondered aloud.

"We're taking a break for an hour! Don't wander too far away!" A nearby tour guide announced to all the tourists.

"Summer's started, we always get swamped by tourists and prospective students this time of year." Namikaze stated with a sigh.

Saten however seemed to have literally froze up for a moment.

"Saten-san?" Uiharu asked.

[Multi-Skill]'s eyes fluttered. "Ah, sorry, just...remembering something."

Her sheepish laugh didn't seem to help Uiharu's worry at all.

"If you say so." The Level 1 simply said when it became clear the Number 3 wouldn't elaborate and looked around. "I guess we came at a bad time."

"I'll go secure a bench for us." Kuroko said.

"I'll go with you too!" Uiharu volunteered and looked to Saten. "Can you wait in line for us, Saten-san? We promise to pay you back! Just get us a strawberry and chocolate each."

"No problem, Uiharu," Turning to Kuroko, her tone grew notably cooler. "Shirai-san."

"Help me too." Namikaze asked with big watery blue eyes. "I want a vanilla, strawberry, and blueberry please."

Tch, such an actor. Why wasn't she in the drama club or something? Mikoto did feel a touch annoyed as she looked towards the blonde's slim petite figure. _Seriously, with how much she eats, she should be a ball!_

What was it that [Maniforce] once said? Her power gave her a stupid fast metabolism or something? Mikoto still called foul on that.

"Misaka-san?" Saten turned to her, "You want me to queue for you as well?"

"Eh? Oh! Chocolate please."

Saten nodded, and walked off to join the queue.

"And don't worry about the Gekota merchandise. I'll make sure to get it for you." Saten said sounding almost teasing.

"Psh, like I care." Mikoto scoffed, her cheeks pink.

"Tsun-Tsun~!"

Mikoto just sent a death glare the grinning blonde's way.

 _She's really asking to die today!_

"Eh? You're going to queue for everyone?" Uiharu asked worriedly. "You sure that's ok?"

"Agreed." Kuroko said, "That doesn't seem fair. At least let Onee-sama go with you, she wanted to so desperately come here."

"I did not!"

Saten waved the concern away, as she walked out of earshot. "It is perfectly fine with me."

The other girls looked at each other in resignation for a moment but shrugged and just retreated to a shaded area with a couple benches at a nearby park. With all of them seated, Uiharu looked at Mikoto and Namikaze with serious eyes.

"So, what's it like? Being Level 5s? It it any different than being a normal girl?"

Mikoto offered a strained smile. She wondered what the flower wearing girl was looking for. "Not really. You study, you train, and you live a regular life."

Namikaze just quirked her brow at that, smiling a bit as if she knew some big secret. She looked at Uiharu, who had shifted her attention to the small blonde, and said. "She's right, sure we have fans and stuff, but that's it. Nothing fancy."

 _Nothing fancy?_ Mikoto withheld a sardonic snort. _Says the girl who goes to high class tea parties and signs fan posters and other ridiculous items._

Did you know the Level 5s have figurines made in their likeness with iconic poses? Mikoto didn't! She wasn't even told about it until one of her annoying fans told her and asked her to sign the box. And was she getting any of the marketing money? Apparently not.

Her mom and dad was though, but that wasn't the point darn it! How was she supposed to rack up high scores at the arcade with so little pocket change?

"Oh." Uiharu looked downtrodden, like her dreams were shattered or something. Clearly disappointed with that reply, she shot a sad look towards Saten.

"You weren't really a fan of Level 5s were you?" Kuroko asked knowingly, that sly smile on her face. "You were just interested in them to find out if all of them were the same as Saten-san, correct?"

Uiharu nodded, looking embarrassed at being called out on it.

Namikaze frowned. "Sorry, but we all aren't like that."

The blonde looked a touch offended by this while Mikoto understood where Uiharu was coming from. The girl's concern for a friend, one as strange and so clearly hurt in some way like Saten in fact, warmed her inside. At least someone was looking out for her kohai.

"It's just I'm very worried about Saten-san." Uiharu admitted. "She never seems like a normal girl. Not when I'm not around. I mean they even call her [The Robot] all over the internet."

 _Everyone at school calls her that too._

"From what I've seen, she just needs more social interaction. Not glued to one person. Maybe get her into a club or something." [Maniforce] offered in a genuinely kind tone.

Mikoto wished she could formulate some kind of suggestion too, but she was too slow as the focus on the conversation walked toward them with their ordered crepes floating behind her. As she neared, the specific flavors flew towards the people who had ordered them.

"Uiharu, you don't have to worry. I'm perfectly fine." She smiled as she sat down with her dessert, even as sent the Gekota freebie floating over to Mikoto.

The older girl blushed, but nevertheless snatched the keychain out of the air and slipped it into her pocket.

That didn't distract her from noticing Saten's smile though. One that the [Railgun] couldn't help but feel made the Number 3 look far prettier. It looked alien on her face, but felt so natural all at once.

With that, the girls started to eat their crepes. Mikoto stayed quiet, observing as Namikaze literally inhaled her crepes, while still looking like a proper Ojou-sama. All while, the blonde teased everyone, smiling like an imp and actually getting a raise or two out of Saten.

"You know, a third of the Level 5s are here in one spot." Namikaze pointed out. "I mean, besides school, we're hardly ever all in one place like this. We're like the Trinity of Tokiwadai or something here!"

Saten looked at her strangely. "You are forgetting about [Mental Out], Namikaze-san."

Naru's impish smile returned. "Well, she's not here~! Plus, Misaki-sempai prefers private gatherings in comparison to public ones like this anyways."

[Multi-Skill] looked ready to continue the pointless arguement, but Kuroko cut her off.

"Hm hm, Trinity of Tokiwadai? Now that sounds fitting. After all, we have all the Level 5s of our school here. At least the ones that matter."

Mikoto's lip quirked around her chocolate crepe. Well, that gained Kuroko a few good points for today.

Namikaze snorted at this, but everyone shared a small laugh. Even Saten managed a somewhat wooden giggle.

Though, Uiharu seemed to be distracted as she gazed at a nearby bank.

"Isn't that weird?" She asked suddenly.

"Hm?" Kuroko asked, as she tried to sneak a bite from Mikoto's crepe.

 _Deducting a few points for that._

"Why is it closed in the middle of the day?"

"That's because it's getting robbed." Saten stated as she ate her treat.

"Eh?!" Everyone said in surprise.

"I was curious." Saten said as if that explained everything. "So I used my Clairvoyance to see what was going on inside."

"Oi oi, Saten-san, you need to say things like that a lot sooner." Namikaze lightly chided.

"Why? Are you going to do something?"

"No way." Namikaze waved off as she looked towards Kuroko and Uiharu. "Do I look like Judgement? I don't deal with small fries...or try to avoid it at least. Too boring."

"That's a good attitude." Kuroko said even as she stood and shot Mikoto a warning look.

 _Hey! I'm not that bad. I know when it's none of my business. Mostly. Stop with the accusing stare already!_

"Still, Saten-san if you knew something was going on, you should've said something."

[Multi-Skill] shrugged. "I'm not allowed to interfere with matters like this."

 _Not allowed?_ Mikoto's mind boggled. _Who are_ you _taking orders from?_

Uiharu meanwhile had pulled out her phone and was dialing the number for Anti-Skill, the City's version of the police.

"You could at least call Anti-Skill." Kuroko shot back, exasperated.

"...But they're always late." Saten twiddled with her fingers, her face trying to pout.

"Still!"

Namikaze just giggled at this, like she knew something they didn't.

The argument was interrupted however when the frontage of the bank in question suddenly exploded outwards.

* * *

"Stay back Onee-sama!" Kuroko said, stopping the Level 5 in her tracks as she stood to intervene, "Maintaining the security of Academy City is Judgment's job. Please behave yourselves this time." She said calmly as she glared at the bank robbers who were just exiting the hole in the building they'd made.

"Yes, that's right," The teleporter heard Uiharu said loudly over the phone, who definitely could hear her, probably trying to scare the robbers with the knowledge that reinforcements were on the way. "In front of the bank on 7th Street in the Furiai Plaza, a robbery in progress. Requesting mobilization of Anti-Skill."

Hopefully Anti-Skill would get here swiftly. Kuroko was worried about these robbers getting ideas for the crowd. She remembered the last bank robbery she intervened in quite well after all.

The four robbers, having dashed out of the bank in a sprint, were hurrying to get away, when Kuroko blocked their path by teleporting right in front of them.

Barring their way, Kuroko pointed to her Judgment armband for emphasis and ordered. "Stop right there! I'm with Judgment. You four are under arrest for robbery and property damage!"

The robbers stopped with a gasp of fright, before relaxing as they saw that the so-called Judgment member was nothing but a teenage girl.

They exchanged an incredulous look, before breaking into raucous laughter.

"What's up with this brat? Is Judgment shorthanded or something?" One asked while laughing.

Kuroko's eyes narrowed in annoyance as the four laughed at her.

 _Watch out for the lean guy with spiky hair. He's a Level 3 Pyrokinesis._

Kuroko blinked, _Saten-san?_

 _They're coming at you! I'll provide intel support._

 _I thought you said you don't get involved in these matters?_

 _Uiharu asked me to._

Well, that explained that.

* * *

While Kuroko engaged the bank robbers, Mikoto watched the whole scene with amusement. She was confident that her roommate could deal with things, so was mainly just enjoying the spectacle.

Namikaze seemed to agree with the sentiment. She was sitting back and munching on her crepe as she looked on. Saten however was slightly more tense and was hovering next to Uiharu protectively, but otherwise generally looked unconcerned too. No surprise there. To Level 5s like them, this wasn't much of a threat.

Their joy at the scene was shattered though when the tour guide of the group of tourists that was in the park enjoying a break at the crepe shop, ran towards them.

"Have you seen a young boy?" The young woman asked, shooting worried looks towards the confrontation between Kuroko and the bank robbers who were now laughing uproariously at her.

"What happened?" Mikoto asked.

"I can't find a boy." The tour guide said frantically, "Not long ago, he said he was going to get something he forgot on the bus. And now…" She couldn't finish, instead gesturing to the bank.

Mikoto exchanged a look with Uiharu who put her phone away and nodded. Saten looked worriedly at Uiharu but nodded as well, clearly determined to keep her friend safe by helping with the search.

"We'll help." Mikoto replied to the tour guide, before turning to the other girls. "Let's split up and search."

"Hm, nah." Namikaze said as she finished her final crepe and hopped to her feet.

"Namikaze-san, where are you going?!" Uiharu asked in surprise.

"I'm going for a walk. Gotta burn some carbs." Namikaze waved a carefree hand over her shoulder as she strolled towards the bank.

* * *

Back with Kuroko, she had set aside the telepathic conversation with Saten and returned her attention to the bank robbers she was facing up against. Leveling a glare at the smart mouthed idiot who had insinuated that she wasn't enough to stop him and his weakling friends, the teleporter shot back with her own scathing reply.

"I'm more than enough to deal with you small fries."

Enraged by this, like the idiot that he was, one of the men charged her. Sighing in exasperation at having to deal with trash like that, Kuroko easily sidestepped him. "An action like that…" She started as she grabbed his arm and kicked out his foot from under him, getting him airborne, which allowed Kuroko to flip him over with ease and disorientating him enough that she easily placed him into a restraining hold, "…is a death flag."

Seeing his friend manhandled, the pyrokinesist that Saten had identified summoned fire to his hand and sent a fireball towards Kuroko. It never reached its target though as before it was even midway there, another larger fireball intercepted it. The greater flame subsumed his weaker one before growing into a blaze that quickly engulfed him.

Kuroko turned towards the source of the second fireball and saw Namikaze strolling towards the 'fight' lazily, a bloodthirsty smirk plastered on her face.

"A blonde pigtailed loli from Tokiwadai?" The man Kuroko was restraining hissed in terror. "That's-"

"Yes, that's right. That person is definitely at the top of Academy City's population of 2.3 million people, the second strongest of the nine level 5s." She said as Namikaze walked over to her victim, put out her flames with a thought and examined her handiwork. "The [Maniforce] – Namikaze Naru-san. One of the prides of Tokiwadai Middle School. The unrivaled [Elemental Empress]!"

"Oi oi, easy with the titles, Shirai-san." Naru said with an annoyed huff as she strolled over, ignoring the two remaining robbers as they fled. Kuroko moved to act, to teleport the pins she carried in the straps on her legs into their clothing and pin them to the ground with them. Though was stopped by Namikaze,

"Let them go." The Level 5 said. "Leave them to the others. They deserve a chance to have a shot."

Kuroko frowned, but wasn't about to argue with a Level 5, not when the more powerful esper was looking at her with that twisted smile on her face. She wasn't going to try her luck with the crazy girl.

Unnerved by the blonde, Kuroko turned to see where the other robbers were going. If she wasn't going to be able to stop them, then she at least wanted to be able to tell Anti-Skill in what direction the criminals had fled.

In the distance, she could see Mikoto Onee-sama and the others were searching frantically for something. Well, Uiharu and Onee-sama were, Saten was searching in a methodical, detached way.

Ironically it was this that allowed Saten to find their target first. She was searching near the railings that bordered the park when she spotted a boy and waved at him to come with her. Unfortunately, she was not the only one who who had seen the boy as one of the fleeing robbers had done the same and reached over to grab him. Saten reacted quickly though and with a application of telekinesis, she sent the would be kidnapper flying. As he landed roughly on the road, the asphalt suddenly transformed into a semi-liquid state and bound him in ropes of black goo. Turning to see her handiwork, Saten's flower shaped hairpin caught the light and the attention of the first thief.

Gasping at the sight, the thug began rambling. "Telekinesis and some kind of viscosity manipulation? From the same person? And that terrifying flower pin! That's-"

"[Multi-Skill]." Kuroko confirmed. "Another pride of Tokiwadai. The third ranked Level 5 in the City, the terrifying [AIM Sovereign]."

"Dammit!" the last robber cursed at the top of his lungs as he raced to his car.

"Misaka-san! The last one is yours." Namikaze shouted at the sight.

"Misaka?" The thug Kuroko was still holding captive breathed in horror.

Misaka turned at the shout and sent the younger Level 5 an incredulous look.

"You wouldn't want to be the only one of us that didn't do anything useful, would you?"

 _Namikaze sure knows how to push Onee-sama's buttons._ The Judgement agent mused, as she saw her Onee-sama get riled up at what Namikaze said. _Of course appealing to her competitiveness would get her to do what she wants her to._

"I remember now!" The black haired robber gasped, his eyes wide with fear…and bodily pain from the painful hold Kuroko still held him in, "There's this horrifying Teleporter in Judgment who will tear apart your body and soul if she catches you!"

"Who might you be talking about?" Kuroko asked with a tilt of her head.

She didn't receive a reply though as both her and her prisoner's attention were caught by the last remaining free criminal climbing into the car. In a rush he started it up, and turned it around to face Mikoto, who had stepped onto the road and into his way.

"Like I'll back down like this!" The robber snarled at Mikoto.

"And there's another who rules over even that Teleporter's body and soul-The Strongest Electromaster!" He gasped in terror. "That means there are _three_ Level 5s here today! Oh god, I knew that I should've just stayed home today."

Kuroko's eyes lit up at the prospect of being able to introduce her Onee-sama. "That's right. She is another one at the top of Academy City's population of 2.3 million people…"

Misaka fished a coin out of her pocket, as the robber pumped the gas of his car, ready to run her over. She didn't even flinch at the prospect though, instead choosing to almost casually flip the coin the into the air.

A smile spread across Kuroko's face as she looked on in anticipation of what was to come, even as she covered her ears. Next to her, Naru had taken a seat on the unconscious thug she'd burned and was looking on in amusement while doing the same. Saten meanwhile had guided the boy from earlier back to the tour group and had rejoined Uiharu. The latter looked on in expectant awe as Saten seemed to be offering some kind of commentary about what was about to happen. Both of them covering their ears as well.

"The fifth strongest of the nine Level 5s…" Kuroko continued as her eyes fixed onto the coin.

As the coin descended, everyone watched as Mikoto raised an arm, her thumb outstretched as she discharged an enormous amount of electricity.

A split second before the coin would pass her thumb, she flicked it.

In response to this seemingly innocuous action, a powerful boom roared through the area as the coin broke the sound barrier, and transformed into a bright, orange streak that shot across the space between her and the car with blue lightning forking off the beam.

The robber couldn't do anything. The beam moved too fast for him to evade and was too powerful for him to think of doing anything to defend himself. As the attack connected, he was sent hurtling into the air as the attack destroyed the engine block of his car and tilted the vehicle at least 60 degrees into the air, a process that sent him flying through the windshield. He landed in a broken heap some distance behind Misaka as she flipped her hair.

"The [Railgun] – Misaka Mikoto Onee-sama. Another pride of Tokiwadai Middle School. The unparalleled [Electric Princess]!" Kuroko finished as she uncovered her ears.

Kuroko's gaze wandered away from her Onee-sama for a moment and caught sight of first Namikaze and then Saten. A playful smile spread across her as she added, "Together, the three of them are the [Trinity of Tokiwadai]."

* * *

 **Hello my beautiful and gorgeous people! It's been a while since I touched the Toaru-verse, but man is it good to be back!**

 **My lil blonde is back and better than ever in my opinion! And what's this? There's another Level 5! I'll leave that one for Nameless touch on, it's his brain baby.**

 **Nameless: So here's the latest story from E4E and I. It's a departure from our typical Riordanverse fare, but we really need a break from that. As for something specific to this story, it's really a combination of two separate ideas we each had individually.** **Hope the end result is interesting and you guys like it.**

 **IMPORTANT: This is a completely separate AU from my other story guys, so no** **comparisons please! It's not exactly fair or appropriate.**

 **As you can see, Naru doesn't just control fire this time around. Nope! She's all the elements baby~! And for those curious, Naru was using the Teleport power, Move Point. It's sorta like her version of Kawarimi but far more controlled to the point where it can be used to directly kill. Naru's true power is pure chakra manipulation. But she doesn't use it as a ninja, but in a more "scientific" (in the AC sense) way. To ninjas, let's just say Naru would be a total to why her ability is called [Maniforce]? It's a combo of Manipulation of Forces, forces like nature. And there's that trivia!  
**

 **Nameless: Ok, so we've gotten a fair bit of flak about creating Sue characters lately. And this may seem the case here. Keep in mind though that as Level 5s, our characters are naturally going to be quite OP. Since being Level 5s is a key part of what we want to explore, that is unavoidable. Beyond that another thing to note is that characters in the Toaruverse do tend towards Sueishness at first. Just look at how Mikoto breezes through a lot of her combat situations in the Railgun canon [the major source of inspiration here, sorry Index fans]. It's only once in a while that someone who was truly a threat to her (like Accelerator) showed up. Most of the time, her opponents aren't people she can smash with her powers but rather shady conspiracies/experiments that she has to dismantle piece by piece, agonizingly slowly. In that sense, we are simply emulating the source where main characters will be quite OP but they'll still be challenged by asymmetric opposition.**

 **Now some of you are wondering what Saten's power is. Well, I'll not reveal everything here. But basically she controls AIM fields, allowing her to sense, disrupt and copy AIM fields of others. Hence the title [AIM Sovereign].**

 **E4E: Did anyone else notice that Saten is kinda Uiharu's bitch? XP And Kurama is Naru's? Bitches for days people! XD Plus, I hope someone noticed the title, it's really obvious with what we are going with here as terms of OP.**

 **Nameless: One last thing. This story is going to feature Naruto In Name Only and Saten In Name Only. I know quite a few readers will dislike that, so if you're one of them, this fic is not for you. Both E4E and I like to explore how a canon character would be like under very different circumstances, hence our fascination with this particular concept as seen in our collab work so far. This story is no exception.**

 **Well hope you liked this reboot! Because I certainly enjoyed writing it! Mikoto is so much fun to write, ah, how I missed teasing her.**

 **SPECIAL NOTE: We are currently looking for a beta for this fic series. If you enjoy the Toaru-verse, please send me a PM and our team will see how you are. Hope we get some takers!**

 **Remember to review, no flames, and peace off my peeps!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Two: Friend Making Plan Alpha**

 **Beta:**

* * *

Naru rose groggily from her sleep, her blonde head poking out of the pile of plushies that covered almost the entirety of her mattress -They were mainly gifts from her followers in the Rabbit Faction. As such, the large majority of them were rabbits, but there were a few other animals as well - and let out a cute yawn.

"Morning, Namikaze-san." Naru's roommate greeted.

Blue eyes looked towards the sound of the voice, where she spotted the other girl zipping up her skirt. She was her age, with long straight dark-bluish hair, matching eyes and was just a bit taller then Naru herself. Seeing that Naru was awake, she flashed the smaller girl a kind smile as she reached for her socks.

"Morning, Awatsuki-chan." The Level 5 greeted in return. This was Awatsuki Maaya, a Level 3 Esper, and Naru's roommate.

Now, Naru could have easily been able to get her own room with the right call, but the blonde had decided against it. She'd never had a roomie before, or anything like that. So when the chance came up, she just couldn't resist. So far the experience was proving rather...nice.

The dorm room in question was located in the Tokiwadai Interior Dorms. You see, Tokiwadai has two dormitories. Naru's dormitory, the Interior Dormitory was located in the _School Garden_ , an area composed of schools and other establishments like shops and restaurants, one specially dedicated to serve the 5 elite schools for girls. This haven for the daughters of the elite was a gated community that restricted free access and all of its establishments were adequately high-classed to cater to such.

The girls' room was decorated in a simple fashion. Two work desks pushed against the walls for their studies, a vanity nestled between them that the girls had split between them and filled with toiletries, undergarments, and accessories. Naru had taken the upper two drawers and Awatsuki took the lower two for herself. The vanity and tables were flanked by their own bookshelves stacked with their personal preferences and study books. Beside their beds, they each had a large closet for their clothes and nightstands. The room's set-up was completed by a small coffee table between their two beds that was surrounded by plush cushions.

Awatsuki's shelf reflected her fondness for the mystery genre alongside books on buoyancy and all things bouncy, which she studied to optimize her use of her ability. Naru's shelf likewise held books suited to her own tastes. Besides the standard textbooks, her shelves were largely filled by her shojo and shonen manga. The former of which she collected as part of her research on the concept of love, while the former was the result of satisfying her craving for stories centring around the idiot protagonist.

Reaching for one of the calories-dense protein bars that her science team had created for her so she didn't get hypoglycemia due to the insane metabolism that was a byproduct of her power, the blonde opened it to munch on. As she partook in her pre-breakfast, Naru wondered what she would do today. Maybe hang out with Misaki-sempai?

As she did, she unconsciously carried on with her morning rituals. Using her power, she conjured up a gentle wind and through precise manipulations used it to wind her hair into two perfect pigtails, floating her black ribbons into position, and finally tie her hair in place.

Awatsuki just looked at her with her usual awe at the daily sight. "I can't help but find that impressive every time." The blue haired girl said before she shook her head and adopted a wry smile. "You know we can't use our powers inside the dorm, Namikaze-san."

Naru simply waved off the other girl's gentle scolding. "What the Dorm Mistress doesn't know, won't hurt her. It's not like we have the crazy one from the dorm outside the _Garden_."

She couldn't help but give a small chuckle, she almost felt sorry for [Railgun] having to deal with that crazy scary ex-commando as a Dorm Mistress.

"Do you have any plans for today?" Awatsuki asked with a curious look. "Kinuho-chan and I were going to do some shopping in the _Garden_ for our sempai in the swimming club. Her birthday is coming up. Do you want to join us?"

The _Garden_ with its reddish sett- and cobble-stoned roads and streets tessellated in strange designs. Its many open squares centred around showering fountains, lit by wrought metal lamps, and ringed by brick and mortar buildings built in the traditional European style. All combined to create arguably the most picturesque place to shop in the whole city. Add in its exclusivity and the high class nature of its stores and shopping in the _Garden_ was always a pleasant experience.

That said, Naru wasn't really in the mood for shopping at the moment. Then again, she didn't really have anything better to do.

The blonde tilted her head as she took another bite of her bar and swallowed. "Hm, I don't have anything planned today. So I don't see why-"

Suddenly, Naru's phone rang with a jolly tune. Reaching over to her nightstand for it, she quickly saw that it was a text from Uiharu.

[Invited by Misaka-san 2 c her dorm. Want 2 join? Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ]

"Huh, I just got invited to something from some people I know." Naru blinked, unsure how to reply.

"That's great!" Awatsuki said, looking giddy for some odd reason. "You should go."

"Eh? But you just asked me-"

The bluenette held up her hands. "No no, your friends invited you. We can go shopping some other time."

The Level 5 shot her roommate a quizzical look at this. "Friends? I don't think we're that close."

Her chipper roommate didn't reply, choosing instead to grab her phone and wallet, stuffing them into her bag. "You enjoy yourself, Namikaze-san. I'll see you later!"

Closing the door, Awatsuki was off, leaving Naru to just stare at the text in confusion. After taking a moment to consider it, she shrugged.

"Meh, why not."

Maybe Misaka would embarrass herself somehow. That was always a good laugh.

[C u after brkfst]

* * *

Mikoto smiled at the sparkly eyed Uiharu and the stoic as usual Saten. After sending the invite to Uiharu, the flower loving girl text bombed her in excitement. Asking lengthy questions about how she should act, what she should wear and everything in between. It was rather cute the Electromaster had thought as she replied that she just needed to bring her regular old self.

Though Mikoto had honestly been a little confused about why Uiharu hadn't known any of that. After all, Saten-san was her best friend. Surely, with that being the case, she'd have at least visited her in the dorms at least once. She'd voiced this out loud and was provided the answer by Kuroko who helpfully pointed out that Saten had an exemption and didn't live in the dorms. So it was entirely possible that she hadn't had the chance to offer her friend the chance to visit.

"Ah!" Uiharu smiled as she looked up from her phone as they walked down the hallway of the dorm towards their destination. "Namikaze-san said she'd come join us!"

"Eh?" Mikoto snapped her head towards the girl. "What do you mean [Maniforce] is coming?!"

Uiharu looked bashful. "Well, since we got along so well last time, I thought why not have everyone together again? Is that not alright?"

At her wide eyed and innocent look, Mikoto faltered a little. But still, panic rose within her heart. _If that baka Usagi is coming, I've gotta clean up! She can't see anything or it's just going to give her ammo! Or even worse, the [Queen]!_

She really wanted to reprimand Uiharu, but it wasn't really her fault. She didn't know about the differences between Tokiwadai's Level 5s after all. She knew [Multi-Skill] well. But Saten-san wasn't exactly the most well informed person about the state of politics between the factions within the school. She was too withdrawn for that.

Honestly Mikoto preferred that to the other Level 5s. At least she didn't take pleasure in tormenting others. Even Namikaze was a little sadist that loved to push her buttons, which was made worse by the knack she had for figuring out where they were.

 _I'll have Kuroko help me stuff my Gekota stuff in the closet or something, then we-_ Just as she opened the door to her room… she was greeted with a sight that brought her thoughts to a screeching halt.

The lights were dimmed, incense filled the air as she heard a cry from Kuroko.

"Onee-sama~!" The Level 4 said, leaping in the air in one of her perverse outfits, a loose frilly purple robe, an ecstatic look on her face.

"Kuroko, what are you doing?!" Mikoto snapped as her roommate fell on her face as Uiharu and Saten gave their greetings.

"Wha, what?" Kuroko's muffled voice asked.

"Get your clothes on, you hentai!" The [Railgun] snapped.

In the background, Uiharu looked upon the scene with shock, while Saten just edged in front of her protectively.

* * *

A few minutes later, and the four girls had put Kuroko's odd behavior out of their minds. Well most of them did. Kuroko herself was still deeply bothered by it and was curled up on Mikoto's bed, sulking. The others were ignoring her though.

"Wah!" Uiharu said, stars in her eyes as she explored the room. "It's so luxurious, just what I thought an Ojou-sama's room would look like."

The Level 1 padded around with an almost puppy-like curiosity, even as Saten-san hovered behind her looking unimpressed. No surprise there. As a Tokiwadai student herself, she was well used to the luxury associated with the school.

It was as the duo were exploring the room that Namikaze showed up, having been let in by a seemingly recovered Kuroko.

"Uiharu-chan~! I'm here." The blonde greeted with a cheer.

Turning to glare at the fellow Level 5, Mikoto crossed her arms and tapped her finger against her bicep in irritation as without even waiting for a greeting from her hosts, Namikaze proceeded to join Uiharu in exploring the room like she owned it. Unlike the Judgement girl however she was looking for something, that was without question.

The short haired electromaster felt smug. There was no way that Usagi-chibi was going to find anything! Ha!

"Heh, the room is pretty simple for someone like you, Misaka-san." Namikaze said teasingly. "I'd have thought it would've been covered with gaudy posters of your frog fetish."

Mikoto felt her forehead pulse in irritation. _It's not a fetish, you baka-chibi!_

Kuroko let out a giggle, holding her chest as she kicked her legs in the air as she sat on the bed.

 _Oi oi, stop making a scene you baka!_ Mikoto glared at her roommate with annoyance.

"Umm, excuse me, Shirai-san, but are you alright?" Uiharu looked at her fellow member of Judgement in worry. "You've been very quiet till now."

"Oh, yes, I'm very well. Thank you." The twin tailed girl said as she sat up and rubbed her hands together while inching closer and closer to the [Railgun]. "I'm afraid we don't have much to offer by way of hospitality but, please make yourselves-"

She stopped short when she noticed Namikaze ruffling under her bed. "Namikaze-san, what are you doing down there?"

"Well, according to my research, you always do a little snooping when visiting a friend's house." The blonde said as she pulled out a white box from under the bed. Opening it, she gasped and held up some frilly black panties. "Huh, erotic."

Looking towards the oldest girl in the room, she said. "No way something this adult is yours."

 _Why you little-!_

"They are mine." Kuroko declared as she twirled one of her twintails in a haughty fashion.

Namikaze held them up towards Kuroko. "These are pretty bold. Where'd you get them?"

The Teleporter chuckled. "I would hardly consider those to be bold. They are a simple necessity. Every lady should have a pair of black panties."

The blonde made a noise of understanding even as she picked up another pair. "What about this pair, then?"

Seeing the red butterfly panties, Kuroko smiled slyly.

"Those really rev the spirit. I wear them when I need some cheering up."

"And what about this stringy T back thong?" [Maniforce] said as she displayed the light blue cloth.

"Handy for avoiding lines when one's clothes fit very tightly."

Seeing the next item, Mikoto's face heated up along with Uiharu's.

"And this black mesh full body stocking?"

"That's absolutely essential. It brings out the supple feeling that hides in the heart of every woman."

Namikaze held the mesh suit against her body. "Hey, you wanna go shopping some time? Maybe you can show me where to get stuff like this. It's all pretty interesting."

Mikoto felt like she was struck in the stomach. _Oh no, no way! There's two of them now?!_

Uiharu reflected the [Railgun]'s horror while Saten-san just twitched in what seemed to be disgust. At least she hoped that was the case.

Kuroko, however, looked radiant.

"But of course! It's always nice to know there is another girl with such refined taste as myself. I will text you later so we can find an appropriate time to shop to our hearts' content."

"Cool." [Maniforce] smiled as she pulled out a pair of childish panties with a mascot character on it. "Huh...not yours. So that means…"

When those mischievous eyes landed on Mikoto, her face heated up as she snatched the panties away. "They're mine, you got a problem with that?!"

"No. Just re-evaluating my image of you is all."

 _Note to self, buy a shovel to use it to dig a grave to hide her body. Actually…_

Mikoto turned to glare at Kuroko, her hands reaching for her cheeks.

"As for you, Kuroko! Explain yourself! What is my underwear doing under your bed, huh?!"

"It'sh a mishundershanding, Onee-shama!" Kuroko managed out.

"Now now, Misaka-san please stop." Uiharu said in desperation as she looked on at Mikoto punishing Kuroko.

"Oh, you know what would be awesome, Misaka-san?" Uiharu clapped her hands in excitement. "I'd love to see some old photo albums if you have any."

She nudged Saten-san with her foot.

"Oh, sure. Sounds like fun."

 _Wow, sound more like a machine why don't you?_

"Maybe some pictures from when you and Shirai-san were in grade school." Uiharu quickly added.

"Eh?" Mikoto blinked, tugging on Kuroko's cheeks once more.

* * *

"Wow! How adorable!" Uiharu said in awe, even Saten seemed to agree,

Mikoto's cheeks flushed a gentle pink, her hand rubbing the back of her neck.

"Is that from your first day of elementary school? And that pretty woman next to you, is she your mother?" The flower wearing girl gushed.

"Uh, yeah." The Number 5 answered.

"What a cute kimono!" Uiharu commented as they looked at a photo of a younger Mikoto at a temple festival and dressed accordingly. "Were you already a Level 5 then?"

"Uiharu, did you forget that Misaka-san started out as a Level 1?" Saten asked gently.

"Not everyone jumps straight to Level 5." Namikaze commented, glancing towards Mikoto. "Just a good part of them."

"Most of us did." Saten corrected.

"Like you and Saten-san?" Kuroko asked.

"Misaka-san is the only one who developed from Level 1 to Level 5, Level by Level." Saten said with a nod. "Everyone else enjoyed major jumps in their Levels at some point in Power Development or-"

Namikaze snorted and finished the answer for her fellow Level 5. "Or like how number nine and I were born as Level 5s. The most powerful of the Gemstones, the natural born Espers."

Kuroko wrinkled her nose at that. Possibly unhappy at being reminded of the fact that some espers effectively got their powers for 'free' when so many others had to work so hard to develop theirs. She'd ranted enough about the subject a week ago when she'd been forced to research the subject for a class.

Ignoring the teleporter's reaction, Namikaze continued in a much softer voice, "Though that didn't mean I knew how to use my powers from the get-go. Learning that was _hard_."

Saten nodding in the background suggested she went through much the same, though that wasn't what had captured Mikoto's attention.

"Really? I'm the only one?" Mikoto asked genuinely surprised. "I hadn't realized that."

"Wow! I didn't know you were so special, Misaka-san." The flower loving girl said with enthusiasm.

"It's not like that at all." Mikoto said as humbly as she could, still fighting her flush of embarrassment. "I was just an ordinary girl."

The group returned to looking at Mikoto's photo album.

"Cool! Let's look at Shirai-san's photos next." Uiharu suggested as they flipped Mikoto's album closed, turning to look at Kuroko hopefully.

Kuroko cupped her chin, a distant look on her face. "I'd be glad to show you them, at least I would be if I had something to show. Unfortunately, I don't have any photo albums for your viewing pleasure."

Ignoring her, Saten casually walked over to her bookshelf and without even needing to look around, she picked up a black album and brought it over.

"I am a girl who believes in seizing the day. I don't like to dwell in the past nor do I worry about the future. No, not me. I stay in the present and savor each moment. That's the philosophy I live my life by."

"Then what's this?" Saten said, flipping open the black album.

"No! You can't look at that!" Kuroko screamed in horror.

"Wait! Wait!" The chibi blonde said, shooting Kuroko a look. "I have something to share too."

Kuroko seemed to get the obvious hint and tried to reach for the album Saten had in her hand but Mikoto blocked her and let loose a few threatening sparks. Cowed, Kuroko backed down.

Namikaze pouted at this, but continued nonetheless. Apparently deciding she wanted to exploit the chance to share she'd created even though it'd lost its purpose as a distraction.

"I'd show you guys my stuff, but it's back at my dorm." The pigtailed girl said, as she pulled out her phone. "Though, I do carry this with me."

With a few swipes of her hand, she called up a photo which she proceeded to show to the group of girls.

The picture was that of a painting that depicted two adults, one male, one female. The male was a tall handsome blond whose hair was styled into wild spikes with cerulean blue eyes that practically glowed with intelligence. The woman beside him had gorgeous long bright red hair, and a warm motherly smile.

"It's a portrait of my Mama and Papa."

Mikoto look flabbergasted as she looked at the incredibly attractive individuals.

Uiharu just gained that starry look again. "So that's where you got your idol looks! A bishonen and bishoujo. As expected of an Ojou-sama."

"You're a Child Error, aren't you?" Mikoto asked, causing Namikaze to frown and Saten to stiffen.

"Oi, Oi! I didn't mean it like that!" The [Railgun] backpedaled, waving her arms in a bid to emphasize her point. "I was just asking how you know how they look like when you've never met your parents."

"It was still lacking in tact." Saten said while leveling Mikoto with a paint peeling glare.

 _How the hell do people get away with calling her [The Robot] with her being this scary when she's angry!?_

"It's expected of a rash Meathead." The blonde said with a sardonic snort.

Uiharu looked between the Level 5s worriedly for a moment, before she chimed hesitantly. "Err, I was actually wondering the same thing."

"Me too, actually." Kuroko added.

"You're right of course, I've never met my parents." The Number Two admitted while staring at her photo, almost but not quite wistfully. "They died in an accident the day we moved to Academy City."

Saten tensed at that, and Mikoto couldn't blame her, from what she'd learned of her kohai, she was orphaned in a similar way.

"So I was shipped off to a facility where I was educated, discovered I was a Level 5 and developed applications for my powers. The end."

"And the photo?" Saten pressed, in an effort to redirect the conversation from a topic she clearly found uncomfortable.

"With the help of a psychometrist, I was able to reconstruct their likeness. This photo is one of the renderings I commissioned. I have a full painted portrait back in my dorm."

"I'm glad you have a picture of your parents, Namikaze-san." Uiharu offered.

Namikaze shrugged, as if it wasn't that big a deal.

Meanwhile, Kuroko seemed to have taken the opportunity of everyone being distracted by Namikaze's photo to attempt to recover her album. She acted so suddenly that Mikoto couldn't react in time. Saten however did and even as Kuroko reached for the book, she slammed the auburn haired girl with a telepathic push that sent her stumbling.

Looking down at the teleporter with irritation, [Multi-Skill] passed the album to Uiharu.

"I think it's Shirai-san's turn."

 _Was that vindictiveness I hear in her voice?_

Namikaze took a peek at the album and giggled. "So that's the famous [Railgun]'s drooling face? I didn't know you even drooled."

"I don't!" Mikoto snapped, sparks dancing along her forehead as she didn't know who to glare at. Namikaze or Kuroko.

Curious, Saten crowded with the other girls to look at the photos too.

"Hmm. Good spy work." The [AIM Sovereign] commented. "The subject seems completely unawares that the photo was even taken."

Mikoto walked over, peaking over Saten's shoulder to get her own look and blushed terribly at the dozen or so embarrassing shots of her doing everyday things.

"You know, you've got a good point, Saten-chan." The Usagi offered her own critique. "Shirai-chan, you ever think about doing some recon on the side? You'd make a mint in a week I bet."

Uiharu just smiled in amusement at the candid shots and flipped the page, only to blush beet red at what she saw next.

"Oho!" Namikaze said as she sniggered pervertedly. "You look good getting undressed, Misaka-sempai."

The [Railgun] ignored the blonde and snatched the book from Uiharu's unresisting hands, snapping it shut in the process. Furious, she turned to face Kuroko who was wisely retreating towards the door.

"Kuroko." The level of menace in Mikoto's tone weighed on the whole room. "It's a good thing you like to live in the present moment so much because right now I'm thinking you're not going to have a very enjoyable future."

"No, you've got it all wrong Onee-sama." Kuroko as she pressed herself up against the room's door. "Don't you understand I only made it because you mean so much to me?"

Mikoto just took a menacing step forward, sparks flying off her body as she did. Idly, the Number 5 noted that Namikaze was looking on in glee while Uiharu had a panicked look on her face. Saten, of course, looked on impassively even as she edged to put herself between her best friend and the impending violence.

"Do you not even remember what an important day it is today, Onee-sama?" The teleporter continued with a sniffle.

Mikoto blinked in confusion, before the realization hit her.

"Of course, how silly of me! Today is the one week anniversary of the day we all became friends."

Saten actually gasped at that, which earned her odd looks from everyone, but she refused to elaborate. Though she seemed to lean into Uiharu a little for some reason, the Level 1 seemed to expect it though and gave the other girl a loose hug.

The petite blonde raised a brow. "We're friends?"

"Well, you're more of a pain in the butt kind of friend. But yeah, I think we are."

"...You're a weird one, Sempai."

"Who the heck is weird, you glutton?!" Mikoto glared at her kohai. Geez, you try to be nice and this is the thanks you get? Talk about rude!

"One week since you met them? Don't make me laugh. One week is nothing." Kuroko scoffed. "One month, that's how long it's been for us, Onee-sama. Today is the one month anniversary of when fate decreed that we would be bound together."

"Kuroko…"

"One whole month, Onee-sama." The teleporter stressed. "Exactly one month ago, by some random chance, you and I became roommates. Since then, we've eaten together and slept together, shared each other's joys and sorrows… All right here, in this very room!"

"But you... you don't remember, do you?" The Judgement agent said with a trembling lip.

"Kuroko, stop that." Mikoto said sternly.

"What is it, Onee-sama?" The teleporter replied nervously.

[Railgun] sparked intensely even as she replied. "You know full well that you manipulated your way in here. It wasn't fate or random chance or anything of the sort. And now you talk about joys and sorrows and…"

"Maybe I see things differently than you." The twin tailed girl pleaded. "It's not like I'm asking very much. I just wanted to celebrate today with you in one small way, Onee-sama." The Teleporter said earnestly.

Mikoto was ready to retort when their conversation was interrupted by the intercom near the door going off.

"Yes?" Kuroko answered with all the decorum of a high-class lady.

 _How the hell does she do that? Just seeing it is giving me whiplash._

"I have a delivery. It's addressed to Miss Kuroko Shirai." A male voice on the other side of the call said, "Is this room 208?"

"Yes." Mikoto cut in, wanting to know just what Kuroko had ordered. She had her suspicions but she hoped she was wrong. "Can you tell me what the delivery is?"

"It just says 'computer parts'."

The [Railgun] heaved a sigh of relief.

"What's the name of the sender?" Saten, of all people, pressed.

"Uh, Love and Herbs Premier Aphrodisiacs, Ltd."

"Wow, you'd think a company like that would have a more subtle name." Namikaze muttered.

Kuroko just nodded in agreement, but shrieked as Mikoto leveled her death glare on her.

"Ku-ro-ko!"

With that furious cry, the Level 5 unleashed a large static burst aimed right at her roommate. The blast never connected though as Kuroko teleported out of the way and into the hallway beyond. The same however could not be said about the poor door that she had been cowering in front of that was reduced to splinters by the attack.

"I've been too lenient. It looks like you're going to need some harsher punishment before you learn to behave yourself." Mikoto said as she cracked her knuckles threateningly. "Now I'm going to fry you so your appearance matches your name!"

Mikoto heard Uiharu gasp at the display and Saten reassuring her, but she was too angry with Kuroko at the moment to pay attention to those two.

"Did you forget that I can just teleport away from you wherever I want to? If this is how you truly feel, you'll leave me no choice. You will not return the love I freely offer so I'll make sure nobody else can have your love either."

Mikoto was about to snarl, but looking behind Kuroko, all she could let out was a meek whimper.

"Is something wrong, Onee-sama?"

Behind her roommate stood none other than the terrifying Dorm Mistress. The demon herself had arrived!

"Dormitory rules, article 9: The use of esper abilities inside the dormitory is strictly prohibited." The woman said in a truly menacing tone. "Surely you haven't forgotten that, Shirai."

The dark twinkle behind those librarian glasses made the dorm residents gulp with terror.

"Good afternoon, Dorm Mistress. Might I say you look quite stunning today." Mikoto greeted in a desperate bid to avoid punishment.

"Naturally, we haven't forgotten the rules." The Level 5 added as she and Kuroko bowed low in supplication towards the tyrant of the Tokiwadai Exterior Dormitory. "We weren't just casually using our powers. I assure you we had a good reason. Yes, a very good reason…"

"Is that so? There were unavoidable circumstances, were there?"

"Yes, that's it, exactly. You see…" Kuroko chimed in trying to do her bit to defuse the situation.

"Too bad."

With that, the devilish woman snapped the poor girl's neck, leaving her body to crumble onto the floor in a heap.

"Kuroko!" Mikoto couldn't help but cry out, her hand outstretched in a bid to catch the falling body.

The Demon had no room for her grief though.

"If I made allowances for every so-called emergency situation, the dorm would fall into utter chaos. Rule breakers must be punished without exception. That's how order is maintained, don't you think?"

"Ye-Yes…" Mikoto replied in a trembling voice.

"Wow you two are boned."

 _Urasai! You Usagi-chibi!_ The short haired girl cried out in the safety of her mind.

Saten meanwhile looked on with her own amused smile, even as she placed her hands comfortingly on Uiharu's shoulders.

 _Not you too!_

At least Uiharu seemed genuinely worried for their sake.

 **0 link break 0**

Mikoto furiously scrubbed the emptied school pool. She and Kuroko had just started a little over an hour ago and she was already drenched in sweat.

"Why is it only we have to do this? Saten-san used telekinesis on me. She should be here too." Kuroko complained as she wilted a little under the blistering sun. The weather for the next few days did indicate that there was going to be a heatwave.

Seemed the Dorm Mistress just picked the perfect timing to issue this punishment.

"Because Saten-san doesn't live in the dorm. She'd just get a light scolding even if you managed to prove it." Mikoto poked the hole in her idea.

The teleporter just huffed. "Well, what about Namikaze-san?"

"Besides being an annoying pain in my butt, what'd she do power-wise?"

"Who knows, she could have done something without us knowing."

"Such as what?" Mikoto asked with slight amusement, but Kuroko didn't answer the question.

"But I guess it's not too bad." Kuroko said suddenly, changing her tune entirely. "At least this means that I get to spend alone time with you, Onee-sama."

Mikoto wasn't fooled in the slightest by the sweet statement Kuroko had made. She knew what the other girl was _really_ thinking and it caused the Electromaster's brow to twitch in irritation at her roommate's perversity.

"Just get back to cleaning." Mikoto ordered as she too returned her attention to the task at hand.

* * *

"...and so we've been hanging out." Naru said, hanging upside down from the ceiling as she stared at her conversational partner.

She was a good distance away from him, a necessity to meet his gaze. This was due to him floating mid-way up a large glass cylinder filled with red alkaline recovery fluid and which was attached to a life-support system. To add to this image of infirmity, he was connected to a bunch of cables and wires that linked him to a series of other life support equipment. This seemingly decrepit man was Aleister Crowley, the supreme authority of Academy City. From this quadrangular room with its many tubes and pipes that ran along the walls and ceiling within the City's infamous Windowless Building, he asserted his will over the Capital of Science.

The room lacked ventilation, so the air was a touch thin for Naru, and was also rather chilly.

Not that she noticed much.

It was hard to describe the man she was talking to. He looked like an adult, yet also a child; like a man, yet also a woman; like a saint, yet also a criminal. Aleister looked like a tall effeminate-looking man with long white hair that was dressed in a green hospital gown and was always barefoot.

Upon Naru finishing up her report, the man quirked his lip in amusement.

"So three of my Level 5s have gathered together? How quaint."

"You make it sound like we're not supposed to get along." Naru rolled her eyes. "Besides, I just hangout with them to tease the two. [Railgun] is easy to rile up and it's fun to find [Multi-Skill]'s buttons."

"Hm, no, it isn't wrong. In fact it may well prove interesting. Or at least entertaining."

"...You know, I think I've figured out where I got my terrible sense of humor from."

Aleister just blinked at her.

"I haven't the faintest idea of what you speak of."

"See? That right there." Naru accused with a point. "You keep giving me bad habits."

" _Aleister-kun, do you have a moment?_ " A ancient man said as his face appearing on a projection inside Aleister's tube.

"It's rude to disturb a conversation, you walking bag of bones." The blonde pointed out.

" _Oh! If it isn't [The Alien]. How has it been faring, Aleister-kun?_ "

"Enough." Aleister admonished both Naru and the old man. "Gensei, is it time for your report on the project already?"

" _It is._ " Kihara Gensei, the elderly patriarch of the Kihara clan of mad scientists that were the backbone of the City's scientific prowess, replied.

In Naru's opinion, he was a brilliant mind, truly a man of his craft. But that genius was far outweighed by his dangerous personality that was something of a common trait within the Kihara clan. You see, they lacked any morals whatsoever and were thus willing to do anything, no matter the costs, to further their goals.

Saten was a fine example of Gensei's own special brand of sick in fact.

This was why Naru utterly hated them and Gensei, as their leader, in particular.

She was just glad Aleister never let them touch her.

"I see." Aleister said with a nod. "Then Naru, you are dismissed. Keep me appraised on any developments between you and your new 'friends'."

Naru felt a slight sense of disappointment, but nodded. Releasing her chakra, she fell towards the floor and flipped in mid-air to land on her feet.

"Well, see you, Superintendent."

With her parting goodbye given, Naru teleported out of the building.

* * *

While Mikoto and Kuroko was serving out their punishment and Naru was making her report to her superior, Ruiko was spending some time with her mother.

She was wearing a helmet which was connected to tubes and wires while she was lying down in a capsule with a transparent seal that allowed observers from the outside to fully view the occupant.

This odd device, a modified Testament machine, was the centrepiece of a large hemispherical room that was filled almost to bursting with tubes, wires and computer equipment. All of which ultimately connected to the machine itself.

Within the capsule Ruiko stared off into space her eyes flickering all over the place as she ran an immense number of computations in her mind, even by Level 5 standards. All whilst her mother looked on, watching for any sign of irregularities.

"How are you faring?" Kiyama asked with a hint of worry.

Saten responded robotically. "I'm fine. We'll do it, don't worry."

"...That's not the only thing I'm worried about."

Saten just continued to focus on the computations she needed to carry out to finish the task at hand.

* * *

A few days after visiting the Exterior Dormitory with the other girls, Naru was honestly surprised by a text from Uiharu - which tickled her suspicions - inviting her to a get together at Pasticceria Manicagni, a famous pastry shop and local favorite in the _School Garden_.

Naru herself was a regular at the bakery. She especially liked their chocolate croissants. So if someone was giving her an excuse to visit, and stuff herself with sweety goodness, then who was she to refuse?

Upon seeing all the girls outside the establishment, she waved. "Yo! You waiting long?"

The other girls replied in the negative and everyone exchanged greetings.

"Why not just teleport here?" Misaka-sempai asked, as they entered the shop.

"I like the scenic route." Naru answered as she studied Uiharu with curiosity. "So I've gotta ask. How do you have a Tokiwadai uniform, Uiharu-chan?"

"Saten-san got it for me ages ago." Uiharu explained as she shot her best friend a grateful smile.

"She just really likes wearing the uniform." Shirai teased.

Uiharu's face heated up. "That's only half true."

"Still true then, is it not, Uiharu?"

Incredibly, the Level 1 blushed even more brilliantly at her evasion being seen through.

"So what's the other reason then?" Misaka asked curiously, as they secured a table.

"So she doesn't draw too much attention while visiting the _School Garden_." Saten added. "I don't like how everyone was looking at her oddly the first few times I invited her over to visit."

"Whipped." Naru teased, causing Uiharu to blush prettily while Saten leveled a glare at the blonde.

Before the situation could escalate, their sempai cut in.

 _Spoilsport._

"Why don't we just order." The Number 5 said quickly.

"Only if sempai is buying."

"Wha-?! No way am I buying for you! You'd eat all my arcade money!"

Naru flashed her a set of large watery eyes and a quivering pout. "You mean you won't?"

Her sempai slapped her hand on the table. "Don't you go using that look on me. I'm not like one of your flunkies. I don't worship those ears of yours, Usagi."

"Tch." Naru turned her head to the side. "And to think I would have risen my opinion of you."

"Like I need it." Misaka barked out a mocking laugh in retort.

"You know, you two bicker almost like siblings." Uiharu pointed out.

Naru and Misaka shared a look, and turned back to Uiharu. "Me? A sister to this Meathead/Chibi? As if."

Saten and Uiharu giggled at the synchronised response.

"Onee-sama," Shirai pouted, biting at her napkin in frustration. "Why don't you argue like that with me!"

Misaka and Shirai descended into one of their typical spats then, and the other three girls just looked on in amusement.

"Excuse me, but I need to use the bathroom first." Uiharu said with an embarrassed little smile, after a moment of watching the show. "Saten-san, order for me?"

"Your favorite Monte Biancao, Strawberry Crostata and Cioccolata?"

Uiharu nodded and rushed off towards the toilet.

Everyone turned to Saten for an explanation.

"Uiharu can never decide between the three. So she always buys all three, eats one here and takes the other two home to enjoy later."

"Oh." Misaka sighed in relief. "For a minute there I thought she was becoming as much of a glutton as the Chibi."

"Please, no one can take that title from me." Naru snorted.

"Don't sound so proud about it!"

"Onee-sama." Kuroko hissed. "You're being too loud."

"Right. Sorry." Misaka apologised halfheartedly. "Let's just go order."

The other girls nodded and rose as one and headed to the store's counter to place their orders. They were halfway there when Saten suddenly tensed.

"You guys go ahead. I need to use the bathroom too."

"You want us to order for you and Uiharu?" Shirai offered.

"Sure," [Multi-Skill] said distractedly as she stalked towards the restroom. "Get me a cheesecake."

Naru found the whole thing very suspicious, but neither Misaka nor Shirai seemed to notice.

 _ **That girl is angry and afraid all of a sudden.**_ Kurama mused, confirming Naru's suspicions that something was amiss. _ **I wonder why?**_

 _Let's find out._

Before she could make her own excuses so she could go do just that, the building suddenly started to shake violently and everything electrical started to spark dangerously.

"Oi, what's that girl doing?" Misaka asked as she looked at the lights, and the flickering stopped presumably due to her using her powers to counteract whatever Saten was doing.

Naru herself placed a hand on the ground, stopping the shaking that was causing panic in the bakery.

"She's angry about something." The blonde stated as she teleported towards the bathrooms.

There by the open door to the Ladies, she found Saten cradling Uiharu, who had been knocked out.

 _ **Guilt? I wonder why she's feeling that?**_ Kurama pondered as they both eyed the other Level 5.

Naru pushed those questions aside for now and knelt next to Saten. "What happened to her? Is there blood?"

"No." Saten replied in the most robotic way that Naru had ever heard from her.

"Then is she hurt in any way besides being unconscious?" Shirai asked as she too teleported into the bathroom.

"No."

 _Again with the robot voice?_

 _ **She's shunting her emotions somehow.**_ Kurama concluded. _ **The voice and demeanor is a byproduct of that.**_

 _What!? How can she do that?_

 _ **Your guess is as good as mine.**_

 _Well, fat lot of good that does us._

While, Naru was having a conversation with her inner demon, Shirai and a newly arrived Misaka were trying to calm Saten down.

"Saten-san, Uiharu is fine." Shirai reassured the agitated Level 5 after finishing what looked like a quick field exam for injuries on Uiharu. "You need to calm down."

"I am calm."

"Liar." Misaka shot back with a glare. "You're pumping out enough EM radiation to blackout half the District. If I wasn't here, you'd have caused a real mess."

"Apologies. I'll restrain myself."

"Let's get her to my Dorm. We can let her rest there until she recovers." Naru offered. Her dorm was the closest after all.

Saten lifted Uiharu up in a gentle bridal carry. "Copy that."

They were just about to set off when Uiharu's phone begun to ring.

Naru picked it up from where it had fallen to the ground and flipped the clamshell open.

"It's from the Judgement 177th Branch."

Kuroko took the phone from the Level 5 and answered.

"This is Shirai. … She's indisposed at the moment. … She was knocked unconscious. … The _School Garden_. … No need for backup, we have the situation under control. ...You want us to bring her to the local branch office? ...You think this might be related?... The data will be sent over?… Of course, Konori-sempai. We will keep you updated. Goodbye."

Folding the phone, the teleporter looked at them. "We'll be going to the 173rd branch office. It's their day off so the office should be empty. Plus Konori-sempai already got us permission from its supervisor."

"Lead the way." Saten said with a steely tone to her voice, that spoke volumes about how much she wanted them to just get going already.

"Right. This way."

* * *

The Judgement 173rd branch, the local Tokiwadai branch, was a rather underwhelming place. It was basically a rather spartan club room with a couch in the corner, a few tables and chairs, a few cupboards filled with equipment and half a dozen basic computers for the branch's paperwork. One would expect the Judgement branch of a school as prestigious as Tokiwadai to be much better furnished. However, considering the low crime rate in the _School Garden_ , the area they were assigned, perhaps it was not so surprising.

The four conscious girls had laid Uiharu down on the branch's couch and covered her with a blanket and had placed a cool compress on her forehead. While they waited for the Level 1 to recover, Shirai was briefing the girls on the situation.

"Someone is targeting our school?"" Misaka asked incredulously at the mere suggestion.

"Our uniform..." Saten begun only to trail off and look away.

"Hey now! No need to blame yourself for this Saten-chan." Naru offered kindly, "It's not like this is the first time she's been to the Garden in our uniform right? This was just a case of bad timing."

Saten nodded, but still refused to look the other girls in the eye. Instead, she focused all her attention on the still sleeping Uiharu.

"Anyway, how is she doing?" Naru asked.

"Well, physically, it's nothing too serious." Shirai said. "She should be fine after she lies down for a bit. It's just…"

"Have you zeroed in on any suspects yet?" [Railgun] asked the still conscious member of Judgement.

"No. Not yet." Shirai explained. "See, their particular ability is making things tricky for us."

"Tricky in what way?" The blonde asked.

"The attacker was invisible."

"Oh?" Naru looked curious and offered her hypothesis. "Light manipulation? Or maybe a telepathic ability that disrupts the sight of the target?"

"It's the latter." Shirai shook her head as she moved to a computer, pulling up an image. "Take a look. This is the image from the surveillance camera during a previous attack."

"That's Kongou-san!" Misaka exclaimed.

Shirai nodded and continued the explanation. "And look at the video. It's clear she didn't see her attacker even though she was standing right next to her."

"So, the victims didn't see their attacker at all."

"Heh," Naru smirked. "Well, she just picked the wrong group to attack. We have three people immune to mental attacks. Sempai, Saten-chan, and myself naturally."

"She might still be using optical manipulation." Shirai countered. "Most espers of that type tend towards only changing the light perceived by their targets. It's less draining that way."

"Saten-chan, what AIM fields did you feel while in the bakery?" Naru asked her fellow Level 5.

Saten seemed uneasy at being asked that for some reason.

 _ **Guilt again. She's practically swimming in it.**_

 _I wonder why._ Naru's eyes narrowed a fraction, but said nothing else.

In spite of her feelings though, [Multi-skill] answered. "Dummy Check. It was Dummy Check who did this."

"You figured it out already?" Shirai said with a rueful shake of her head. "And here we had a list of forty seven suspects." Shirai looked relieved as she started to type on her computer. "That saves a lot of time. Remind me to call you up for a consultation in the future, Saten-san."

"Dummy Check, here it is." Shirai said as she brought up the relevant file. "It's the power to impair the awareness that a person is looking at a particular subject. Apparently, only one person has it. Juufuku Miho, a second-year at Sekichu Middle School."

"That's our attacker!" Misaka pointed out, a frown on her face.

"But this shouldn't be possible, though. She's only a Level 2." Shirai said uncertainly. "She's not strong enough. According to her System Scan results, she doesn't have the power to completely conceal herself."

"Shirai-chan, if Saten-chan sensed it, and she's the only girl with it, then she must have been the one who did it." Naru reasoned. "It's just the cold hard facts."

"It still doesn't make sense…"

"Who cares, we have our target." Naru's smile turned a touch predatory. "So who's up for some hunting?"

"Maybe it's the result of some kind of experiment that she was the part of?" Their sempai suggested. "Something that boosted her Level?"

"Well, that's possible. She doesn't look like someone who could get her hands on some Body Crystal though." Naru mused.

"What?" Misaka blinked.

"Nothing you need to know about."

Misaka looked at Naru suspiciously but whatever question she was about to ask was preempted by Saten declaring that, "Uiharu is waking up."

"What happened?" The flower wearing girl groggily asked as her cool compress slipped off her head.

"Hey, take it easy." The electromaster told the girl as she turned to face her. As she caught sight of her friend however, she suddenly covered her mouth, to try -But fail- to hold in a snicker.

Naru and Shirai followed their sempai's example, laughing at Uiharu as well.

The Level 1's eyebrows had been markered up into a huge unibrow. It was an utterly hilarious look and the other girls just couldn't resist laughing at it.

Well all of them except Saten, who just gave the rest of them a withering glare. It didn't really do much though. At least not for Shirai or Misaka, Naru though reined herself in immediately.

 _ **She's feeling slightly murderous right now.**_ Kurama said with clear amusement. _**Genuinely so.**_

 _Yeah, no duh. I guess the day has been a bit too stressful for her._ Naru looked to her fellow Tokiwadai students and clapped her hands to get their attention. "Okay, okay you two. Let's not give Saten-chan a reason to kill us."

The two roommates did so, a snicker escaping their lips every once in awhile.

"Eh? Eh? Why is everyone laughing?" The computer savvy girl fretted.

Shirai handed her a hand mirror after she contained her giggles.

" _Eh!_ My eyebrows!" Uiharu cried out, tears prickling her eyes. "Who would do such a thing?"

"A girl with a petty bone against Tokiwadai." Naru told her.

"But I'm not an Ojou-sama!"

"I don't think the culprit knew that, Uiharu, after all you're wearing the uniform." Shirai dryly pointed out.

The Level 1 looked at the uniform with betrayal. She looked back at the group of girls, with determined eyes. "Who did this?"

"Juufuku Miho, a second-year at Sekichu Middle School. She's a Level 2 with a perception filtering ability called Dummy Check." Saten explained.

"She must pay."

"...Oi, Saten-chan, I think you're giving Uiharu-chan your bad habits."

Uiharu and Saten shot Naru identical looks of annoyance. Complete with raised left brows and withering glare.

 _That's just weird._

 _ **Agreed.**_

 _You are just really vocal lately._

 _ **Meh, this is funny.**_

"Still, I think I'll freeze her online accounts, melt her computer via a virus, and send her endless spam!"

"Remind me never to piss Uiharu-san off." Misaka stage whispered to Shirai.

"Ditto." Shirai whispered back before stepping towards her Judgement partner. "You can do that _after_ we've caught her."

Uiharu didn't look happy about that stipulation, but conceded with a pout. "Fine."

"Good, then are you up for helping us catch the girl?"

"Let's cuff her."

Naru let out a teasing whistle. "Uiharu-chan, how bold."

The girl turned red in the face. "Namikaze-san!"

Saten meanwhile ignored all this shenanigans and was busy staring out the window. Suddenly, she announced. "She's still in the _Garden._ If we want to catch her, now is a good chance. If not, we'll have to let Anti-Skill do it."

Naru's smile broadened. "Nah, us doing it sounds way more fun."

"Agreed." Saten said with a feral grin on her face.

 _ **Bloodlust. A**_ **lot** _ **of it.**_ Kurama commented with a whistle. _**What an interesting girl.**_

 _Seriously, she's losing [The Robot] moniker at this rate. I'm going to have to change my ringtone from Mr. Roboto for her it seems._

Kurama snorted. _**She never was one. If you'd asked me earlier, you'd have known that. You'd have saved yourself the trouble if you had.**_

 _You know you like the beat._

 _ **Psh, too off-key for my liking.**_ _Kurama snorted dismissively._ _ **Seriously now, it's probably not a good idea to let her go after the girl. We don't want to help hide a body.**_

 _What body? She won't leave one at this rate._ Naru shot back. _But you're right._

"You're sure you're ok to do this?" Naru asked the unstable Level 5.

"I am." Saten assured. "I might have gotten a little emotional earlier but I'm calm now."

Misaka snorted at that.

 _Well, at least I'm not the only one who sees how bad an idea it is to let her go after the girl._

"Why don't you stay here with Uiharu-san instead?" The [Railgun] offered.

Shirai quickly jumped in to support her precious Onee-sama. "That's a good idea. Uiharu's still recovering after all."

Saten shot a look at her best friend, who shrugged in return.

"Very well."

 _Well, that potential murder has been averted._

"So, Uiharu, you think we could get access to the Garden's cameras?" Shirai moved on quickly, obviously worried that Saten would change her mind. "Juufuku can't make herself invisible to the cameras so we can use those to track her."

"Not with this hardware." Uiharu said as she frowned at the lacklustre IT equipment available to her, before exchanging a secretive smile with Saten. "But don't worry, we have a solution."

At the computer savvy girl's words, Saten pulled out her phone and plugged it into the local desktop. "Synchronization, Uiharu. Fifty three percent."

"Copy that." Uiharu said as she helped a suddenly sluggish Saten to take a seat on the couch.

"Uh, what are you two doing?" Misaka-sempai asked with a tilt of her head.

"Well, it's complicated so I'm just going to give a cliff notes version if that's alright." The other girls nodded. "Well instead of jury-rigging all these computers to run parallel to each other in order to compensate for their lack of processing power, I'm using Saten-san's brain."

"Eh!?" Naru and the others exclaimed in utter surprise.

"Well, Level 5s have a lot of processing power since they usually do a lot of heavy calculations for their abilities. So we came up with this little strategy for optimal efficiency of that power."

"But how?"

"She's using her Electromastery." Misaka said as she glared at the phone and Saten in turn. "You have speciality software on that phone that helps you interface with it wirelessly. Using your phone as some kind of adapter you've turned that computer into a glorified UI terminal which feeds inputs to you which you then run the appropriate computations for."

"Eighty-nine percent." Saten simply answered.

"Pretty much. As expected of the number one Electromaster, Misaka-san." Uiharu looked at the [Railgun] with awe. "It's a lot more complicated than that, but you've got the gist of it."

"I don't feel like giving a two hour lecture."

Naru shot her a smirk. "She's simple like that."

"Oi!"

"Synchronization complete. Uiharu, we're good to go."

"Uiharu," Shirai said, just getting off her phone. "I got permission from the higher-ups. We can work within the _School Garden_. We're green lit."

Uiharu smiled brightly and began typing.

"Uh, Uiharu-chan is Saten-chan supposed to be like that?" Naru asked gesturing to the practically frozen girl. "Because that's kinda weird. And I've seen a _lot_ of weird."

"It's normal." Uiharu explained. "Saten-san is just rerouting processing power from her motor functions to enhance her computational ability."

Misaka looked nervous at this. No doubt over the dangerous potential of her own ability. "Still, she shouldn't do it that long. I don't even want to consider long-term effects if overused. I can already think up a few."

"The paralysis wears off." Uiharu chimed in, unconcerned. "It only really affects her in the boot up sequence. Besides Saten-san can emulate regeneration type abilities too. She'll be fine."

"Not many of that type of ability." Naru mused, sounding impressed.

"Tsuchimikado." Saten said as if it explained everything, and for Naru it did. The boy's Auto-Rebirth ability basically allowed someone to recover from injuries that practically left them on death's door without any complications.

"You met that sis-con? Geez, I feel bad for you."

"Unique esper. Of course." The AIM manipulator said in a disjointed way that showed the level of strain of what she was doing was putting on her.

"A unique level 0." Naru snorted. That bleached blond haired high school boy was good at what he did in the Dark Side, but Naru still felt creeped out by him since according to him she was a 'total imouto' character. One which embodied the archetype to near perfection.

"You do know this isn't going to help with people calling you [The Robot], right?" Shirai interjected.

Uiharu winced a little, but continued her keystrokes.

"Don't care. Help Uiharu."

 _Can you be any more whipped?_ The little blonde thought in amusement. Still, it was nice to see her going so far for a friend.

 _ **How rare. Such a devoted friendship.**_

 _You got that right._

"Got her!" Uiharu declared, her unibrow narrowed. "It is time for my revenge!"

"...That's just adorable."

"Namikaze-san!"

"Enough talk." Shirai said suddenly sounding all business. "We have a criminal to catch."

Misaka nodded.

Naru let out a giggle. "Time for a hunt~!"

* * *

Naru, with practiced patience, leaned against a brick wall. Her phone was attached to her ear as she waited for Uiharu's coordinates.

" _Namikaze-san, Shirai-san spotted her. She's running your way, two blocks to the right."_

 _ **Mm, I can taste the fear in the air.**_ Kurama smiled within her mind. _**Target is locked.**_

 _Well, this is just going to be a treat._ Naru smiled in a sadistic way, her teeth bared. "Copy that, I have the target locked."

" _Eh? How?"_

"Don't worry about it." Naru said, leaping into action as she jumped over a building and ran in the direction that Kurama directed her towards.

 _ **She's going left. And bingo was her name-o.**_

[Maniforce] glanced down at the running girl. She had dark brown hair gathered into an odango style, with her bangs hanging low to cover her left eye along with most of her forehead. She was wearing a gray waistcoat and skirt, a white shirt and a tie, or in other words the Sekichu Junior High School uniform.

"Definitely not _School Garden_ material." Naru tutted to herself as she jumped down, landing flawlessly in front of the frightened girl.

"Ei!" She squeaked, making Naru smile at the sound.

"Hello, please come with me. You're under arrest for assault and yada yada."

" _It's not yada yada! it's-"_

"Sorry Uiharu-chan, too busy arresting my vict-err the criminal."

"You were going to say victim!" Juufuku Miho cried out.

"No. No no...no." Naru assured but soon snorted. "Psh, yeah."

The girl adopted a look of concentration for a moment, before she suddenly made a break to run around Naru.

Only for the blonde to stick out her leg and trip the girl.

Landing on her face, the girl let out a pained cry and looked confused.

"FYI, your ability? It doesn't work on me." The Number Two merrily pointed out.

"Why?" The now terrified Miho managed as she struggled back onto her feet.

"Because I'm a Level 5, little doe." Naru said as she stalked towards her, flashing her teeth. "Now. Run."

Juufuku did just that, like Naru was something from her nightmares.

" _Um, Namikaze-san...why didn't you just capture her?"_

"For the thrill, Uiharu-chan. For the thrill."

" _Sadist."_ Shirai chimed in.

"What? You want me to do your job for you? For shame, Shirai-chan."

" _Just do your part._ " Shirai said through what was clearly gritted teeth.

"Hai hai!" Naru chirped and began to chase the criminal.

As the little doe ran for her freedom - Or as she probably thought, and if Saten had her way, her life -, Naru waved her hand, bending the air with her chakra to create a wall of compressed air. The wall barred the path to Juufuku's right, forcing her to go left.

Naru would have personally used some geokinesis, but then she'd have to deal with all the potential property damage. And Naru considered herself professional enough to work around that limitation.

Plus, she liked to keep the _School Garden_ intact too.

"Come on, run, run!" Naru jeered with a giggle, easily jogging behind the frantically running girl.

" _Why do I suddenly feel like we're the bad guys here?"_ Misaka said over the line.

" _We're not. Don't forget that she hurt Uiharu._ " Saten said, apparently recovered enough to speak in proper sentences again.

" _She does feel like a predator."_ Uiharu added.

"An apex predator, please."

Shirai dryly said. _"That's not a thing to be proud of."_

Naru and Kurama highly disagreed.

" _It still feels like we're leaving psychological scarring."_ Their sempai complained.

"How else she is ever going to learn not to hurt our friends again?" Naru idly chimed in as she made another wall of air, forcing the target to go right this time.

" _Shouldn't it be to not commit crimes?_ " Shirai said accusingly.

"Hm? Oh! That too I guess."

" _This isn't a guessing game!"_ Misaka scolded.

Naru just rolled her eyes as she forced Juufuku to make another left and head directly towards the local park. "Package has been delivered. Go get'em Sempai. Taser the hell out of her."

" _Unlike you, I can hold back."_

"And that's what makes you boring." Naru muttered to herself.

Strolling into the park herself, Naru saw from a distance as Juufuku walked right into their trap, complaining all the while. "This is why I hate all you brats from Tokiwadai."

She had just reached the park's swings when she was confronted by Misaka. Reacting quickly, Juufuku drew her stun gun and attacked Misaka with it, only to be surprised when it had no effect.

"Bummer. You see, stun guns don't really have any effect on me." Her sempai said as she touched the culprit with a single finger and shocked the girl into unconsciousness.

"As expected of Sempai. She's as ruthless as they come." Naru said with a bemused smile as she strolled on up to Misaka, even as Shirai teleported nearby.

"I am not." Misaka pouted towards the blonde. "I was holding back."

"Yet you still took her out with a single touch." Naru couldn't help but tease. "How isn't that ruthless?"

Misaka sputtered, unable to form a decent retort.

Kuroko meanwhile turned to look up towards a nearby camera. "Uiharu. Please contact the Anti-Skill and inform them that we have successfully apprehended the suspect."

" _Right."_

"Good work today." Kuroko told the whole group.

" _Thanks."_ Saten gave the lone reply. Uiharu being busy with calling Anti-Skill while Naru and Misaka continued bickering.

"Ruthless~! Ruthless~!"

"I'll show you ruthless, you damn Chibi!" Misaka cried out as she began to chase Naru, sparks flying off her frame.

The blonde couldn't help but giggle.

Her Sempai was so easy to mess with.

* * *

A few days later, Ruiko and Uiharu were spending time together on the streets of the City.

"Come on, Saten-san." Uiharu said as she enthusiastically pulled Ruiko along. "Shirai-san is waiting."

Ruiko smiled at her friend's eagerness.

"There's really no need to rush, Uiharu. We have plenty of time."

"I know. I know." Uiharu said with a smile. "But I want us to spend as much time together as possible."

Ruiko sighed. "Fine. Fine."

The two enjoyed a bout of companionable silence for a while, before Uiharu brought up some pleasant conversation.

"At least the Tokiwadai Hunt Case is done with."

Saten just grunted unhappily.

"I still can't believe she did all that because her boyfriend dumped her. I mean, I guess it's sad," Uiharu pursed her lips. "But you don't just attack people who had nothing to do with it!"

She patted her forehead. "At least the marker came off."

"I'm glad."

At this point they reached the plaza where they saw Shirai waiting with Namikaze. Waving at the two girls, the two best friends walked over.

"It's rare to see you two together, what have you been up to?" Uiharu asked as all four girls began walking together.

"We went shopping." Namikaze said with a smile, holding up two hot pink shopping bags.

"Fufufu." Shirai giggled, shouldering her own bags. "Indeed we did. I showed Namikaze-san my special location for ladies with mature taste."

Uiharu sputtered. "You don't mean-?!"

Shirai nodded, looking quite pleased with [Maniforce]. "Indeed and might I add, Namikaze-san, you made such bold choices. Even my cheeks grew hot at your selections."

"Oh my!" Uiharu said, her whole face burning from her blush, steam practically coming out of her ears.

"Eh?" Namikaze tilted her head, her hair flopping along with it. "But Shirai-chan also picked some pretty racy stuff. Hoping for Sempai to notice you?"

"But of course!" The teleporter laughed haughtily. "I picked them specifically for that purpose."

"Oh my, oh my." Uiharu looked as though she was going to faint.

The two other began listing their purchases. Ruiko just tuned them out, knowing full well that listening would just leave her pointlessly embarrassed.

Uiharu it seemed hadn't caught that memo and as a result was on the verge of passing out from listening to the girls' shameless recitation of their salacious purchases.

"Misaka-san is going to shock you at this rate." Uiharu sighed, leaning against a wall for support.

At the mention of Misaka, Shirai stiffened. "Err, you won't tell Onee-sama will you, Uiharu? Namikaze-san? Saten-san?"

Uiharu shook her head and Ruiko shrugged.

"No promises." Namikaze teased with that mischievous twinkle in her eye.

 _Bad influence. Minimize exposure to Uiharu._

Ruiko blinked at the decidedly mechanical way her thoughts were sounding lately. It was happening more and more often and she was getting worried.

"We should call Misaka-san, I'm sure she'd love to be here for this. After all, Shirai-san seems to enjoy her scoldings."

"No I don't!"

"Really?" The blonde blinked. "I thought you were a masochist."

"I am not!"

"...You certainly ask for and take a lot of punishment." Namikaze said skeptically.

"W-Well I'm not." Shirai sputtered out.

"Just call her anyway." Uiharu suggested. "I think she'd like to join us."

Shirai looked very rigid right now.

 _At this rate, we'll be stuck here all day._

"Would you prefer me to call her instead?"

"No no." Shirai waved her hands to emphasize her denial of the request and pulled out her phone. "I will."

 _I knew that would work. She'd never give the chance to talk to Misaka-san to someone else._

Quickly dialing, the teleporter held the phone to her ear. "Onee-sama, where are you right now?"

Shirai twirled one of her twintails, a little smile on her face. "I've met up with Namikaze-san, Uiharu, and Saten-san. I was wondering if you'd join us for tea… Weird, you say? ...She suddenly undressed herself? You've run into the infamous [Stripper Lady]?!"

 _Stripper Lady?_ Ruiko thought with a groan. _That has to be Kaa-san._

"Saten-san, that sounds like Kiyama-sensei, doesn't it?" Uiharu asked with a worried look on her face.

Ruiko just nodded.

"Your Kaa-san is the [Stripper Lady]!?" Namikaze burst into a series of maddening giggles. "Oh man, that's a riot!"

Saten just sent her a glare.

"Still better than the [Laughing Joker], that crazy maniac that cuts helpless people down at night."

[Maniforce]'s giggles came to an end as her lips formed a thin line. "Ah, yeah, that sounds scary. But I think the [Army Slayer] is pretty scary too...you gotta wonder how someone like that _ticks_."

Saten frowned but didn't press the issue. She didn't want Namikaze to drag up her history, even if she had plenty of her own dirt on the blonde to use in retaliation. Doing so would just end badly for both of them.

A sentiment that Namikaze seemed to share as she let the matter go.

"The atmosphere got kind of tense. Are you two okay?" Uiharu asked nervously, shuffling her feet.

"Peachy." Namikaze flashed Ruiko a toothy smile. "Right?"

Ruiko offered a strained smile herself. "Absolutely."

"Whatever!" Shirai cried out, nervousness radiating off of her. "We need to find Onee-sama before she catches this stripping disease!"

Uiharu sent a glare Shirai's way.

"It's not some contagious disease!" The Level 1 said firmly to her Judgement partner while glancing at Saten worriedly.

"She's right." [Multi-Skill] sighed, "Let's go find them before Misaka-san zaps my Kaa-san for being a hentai."

"Good idea." Namikaze nodded. "But where do we find them? I haven't seen any Misaka Bolts come from the sky yet."

"They're near the Seventh Mist mall."

"Your AIM sense is freaking convenient, you know that?"

"It is." Shirai agreed. "I've really got to have you do consultations for us in the future."

"I don't work cheap." Ruiko told her with a smirk. "But we can discuss terms later, let's just get going."

"Compass away!" Namikaze chirped.

* * *

Following Ruiko's directions, the girls soon found Mikoto and Kaa-san in one of the bathrooms of the office buildings next to Seventh Mist. As they trooped into the washroom they were just in time to hear Kaa-san comment that, "You know, that word where you're cold to someone you like. It was prevalent a while ago. Tsun...Tsun..Tsundara? No. Ah, Tsundere."

"I-I am not a Tsundere!" Misaka screamed, static arcing off her body and snapping at the lights, causing a blackout within the building.

 _I agree with Kaa-san, Misaka-san is such a Tsundere._

Namikaze had her arms crossed and nodded in a sage-like fashion. "Yep, Tsundere fits Misaka-Sempai to a T."

Mikaka spun around, her eyes wide and her flush radiant in the dark. "W-W-What are you guys doing here?!"

"Watching you freak out." The blonde teasingly smiled.

"Let's get out of here." Misaka said quickly, pulling Kaa-san along. The rest of the girls following along as they fled from the scene.

"Honestly, Onee-sama!" Shirai chided. "You are far too reckless with your powers!"

Misaka was too busy fleeing to reply.

Namikaze however was more than able to comment, "Hey Uiharu-chan, I bet that running from the authorities after causing a blackout isn't what you had in mind, right?"

"Wah?! I-I don't know what you mean."

"You know, for these little social gatherings for Saten-chan so she can open up more."

"Namikaze-san, shh!" Uiharu begged her, holding a finger to her lips.

"...Seriously? Come on, it was clear as day."

* * *

It look a half hour but the group eventually found Kaa-san's car. This wasn't because it was hard to find the lot itself, but rather because it was all the way on the other side of the District. Apparently Kaa-san had walked across the whole District in her search for her car.

 _Honestly Kaa-san, can you be more clueless about this kind of things?_

The only good thing that came out of it was that Kaa-san could drive them home. They had offered lifts to the others of course, but only Uiharu accepted in the end. Shirai and Misaka wanted to go finish the shopping that [Railgun]'s encounter with Kaa-san had interrupted. Namikaze meanwhile had decided to tag along with the two.

Almost certainly so she could tease Misaka. She got far too much pleasure from embarrassing others.

As they drove off after a round of goodbyes, Kaa-san spoke up.

"You've made quite the interesting bunch of friends, Ruiko."

"Aren't they, just?" Uiharu said cheerfully.

Ruiko simply shrugged. She really couldn't even be sure that she could count Shirai, Namikaze and Misaka as friends. She didn't even know how to properly describe her relationship with the three other girls.

"Uiharu, was what Namikaze-san said about these get togethers lately true?" Saten asked in an effort to figure things out a little better.

"Of course, you really do need to socialize more." Uiharu admitted easily. "But also because it's fun too. Though I'll stop if you want. Do you?"

Ruiko raked her mind in a bid to determine what she really wanted.

"Hmm." Kaa-san chimed in. "I think Uiharu-chan's got a good idea there."

 _Kaa-san agrees too? Well, I guess there's really no harm to it._

"And it has been fun too I guess." Saten said with a sigh.

"So you're ok with more of these outings?" Uiharu pressed hesitantly.

"I suppose so."

"Yatta!" "Sounds like a plan."

 _With both Kaa-san and Uiharu behind the idea, there's no getting out of this._ Saten thought with a shake of her head even as she pressed it against the car window.

* * *

Naru sighed with relief as she returned to her room after a nice hot bath in her silk PJs. As she dried her hair with some hot air she conjured with her powers, the Level 5 plopped down onto her comfy mattress.

After the girls had split up, Naru had indeed gone shopping with Misaka and Shirai. But as the sun set, the other Level 5 had made some excuses and after sending her roommate home, laden down with their purchases, had left to "meet a friend". Curious, Naru had hung back a little and ended up spotting [Railgun] meeting up with [Imagine Breaker] of all people and heading off towards a nearby riverbank to fight!

For the purposes of gathering data on the combat prowess of two of the City's major players -And to get teasing material on Misaka-Sempai- Naru had decided to sit back and watch the show.

[Imagine Breaker], the ability to nullify all supernatural phenomena.

What a scary power.

Naru didn't even want to know what would happen if that thing touched her.

In the end, the result was obvious. Her Sempai lost in an embarrassing way.

She just hoped the Superintendent would lend her a copy of UNDER_LINE's footage of the fight.

Giggling to herself, Naru saw that Awatsuki was already in bed.

 _Well, I guess I had enough excitement for one day._ The blonde eyed her underwear drawer where all her new purchases were. Man, when Awatsuki saw them, she was probably going to blush like crazy!

Naru smiled at that.

Suddenly, her phone on her nightstand vibrated.

"They better not have a job for me right now. I just took a bath…" Annoyed, [Maniforce] picked up the device and answered it. "You've got Namikaze."

" _[Maniforce]."_

Oh joy, her boring handlers.

While Naru worked directly for Aleister as his personal agent, he still had a group of handlers for her. To pass on his orders when he was too busy to do so himself. They also doubled as her support team so to say that cleaned up after her jobs and dealt with any political fallback, etc. Just a bunch of boring old brown nosers if you asked her.

"What happened this time?" The blonde sighed, snuggling into her mound of plushies.

" _We have reports of a mad bomber attacking the city. Your orders are to leave this to Judgement and Anti-Skill. Do you understand?"_

"And if I just so happen to run into this little person?"

" _You are not to engage except in self-defense."_

"Tch," Naru scoffed, a pout on her face. "Boring."

" _Acknowledged?"_

"Yeah yeah. Now I'm going to bed, sweet dreams." Naru hung up, placing her phone back on her nightstand.

Curling herself under the warmth of her plushies, Naru closed her eyes for some rest.

It was one heck of a week after all.

* * *

 **And that's chapter two! Hope you all liked it. Because I did, it was just a treat to write.**

 **IMPORTANT: This is a completely separate AU from my other story guys, so no** **comparisons please! It's not exactly fair or appropriate.**

 **SPECIAL NOTE: We are currently looking for a beta for this fic series. If you enjoy the Toaru-verse, please send me a PM and our team will see how you are. Hope we get some takers!**

 **As you can see, we've continued with our three Ojou-samas POV. It's shuffled around, but as our main heroines, they get their moments to shine in just the right ways.**

 **Nameless: We squeezed three episodes into one chapter! The result was quite the massive chapter. I'll admit trying to find a unifying theme for the chapter wasn't easy. We hope what we ended up with wasn't too shabby.**

 **Naru and Mikoto have sure got an interesting dynamic, right people? As Uiharu said, they bicker like sisters. It's a bit to a callback to my previous fic, but also shows it in a new light where it's far more entertaining. Also, I just love to tease Mikoto, she's Tsun-tastic for it. And yes, Naru has similar tastes to Kuroko, scary, we know. But at least her significant other (Whoever he/she may be) is going to have a good time~!**

 **Nameless: Some of you might have realised we've left certain backstory elements in a entirely "tell" format in defiance of the fic writing maxim of "show don't tell." Don't worry, we did this deliberately, mainly for chapter length issues and not to give too much away. We'll make up with it through appropriate flashbacks as we go along. We didn't manage any this chapter, but we plan to start dealing with this issue next chapter.**

 **Yeah, we were going pretty long here. Hope you guys also enjoy Naru interacting with Aleister. And all the little monikers that were dropped. It's up to you all to figure them out! Or, at least until we've commented on them in-story. But who knows when that'll happen.**

 **Nameless: Yup. Yup. Plenty of foreshadowing too. Hope you had fun trying to figure it out.**

 **Well, you know what you guys gotta do! Smash that review button and tell us who ya love! Team Railgun, Team Rabbit, or Team Saten! Get your tee-shirts folks!**

 **Be sure not to flame and eagerly await the next chapter. It's going to start getting real.**

 **Peace out my peeps!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Three: Graviton Towards Friendship**

 **Beta: Itherael**

* * *

Uiharu Kazari was taking a pleasant stroll from the bus stop to the Judgement 177 Branch Office for her shift as a Judgement agent.

Shuffling through the crowd of students heading home after school, the girl that wore a headband made of artificial flowers weathered the heat and spotted the office building where the Office was located in. It was a quaint old-school five story brick building nestled between two modern skyscrapers and the mere sight of it brought a smile to her face. It elicited in her a whole host of pleasant memories of the times she spent there. Times happily working alongside Shirai-san and Konori-sempai.

Walking up towards the second floor office, she opened the door. "Hello."

Despite her greeting, she received no answer. It seemed she was the first to arrive for her shift. Making her way to her work station at the very back of the office, she placed her bag to the side of her computer and booted it up. While room was filled with the calming whirl of her personal PC coming to life, Kazari contemplated how lively it had been for her lately.

She used to be so lonely. She was a girl who had trouble making friends due to her timid nature. Add to that the uncertainty that surrounded coming to Academy City, making her even more stressed and thus more closed off than usual. It was sort of expected that she had failed to make any friends at all in the first few years since coming to the City.

A smile came to her face as she idly typed in her password.

That had changed completely once she had met Saten-san though.

* * *

 _ **~ Flashback ~**_

With school done for the day, the young girl was walking to the bus stop to head home, pondering how things were going for her so far as she did.

It was the last term of elementary school and she was almost twelve years old! She was going to start middle school next year! She was so excited! Unfortunately, with all the time she had devoted to her Judgement training and her computer skills, she had little time to research what middle school was right for her power development.

But now, it was the perfect time to think about it and make a decision.

For a fleeting moment, the thought of applying to Tokiwadai crosses her mind, yet she quickly dismisses this idea from her mind as the reality of her situation hit her. "As if they'd take a lowly Level 1."

Still, a girl could dream right?

Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed something odd.

In the park she was passing by, a girl just seemed to be drifting around, as if she was lost or looking for someone. Knitting her brow, Kazari figured it was her duty to help the girl out. She pulled out her Judgement armband and slipped it on.

"Excuse me!" Kazari called out, jogging over to the girl, who turned to face her. "Hello, I'm Uiharu Kazari, a member of Judgement. You look lost, do you need help?"

"Hello." The girl, with blue eyes and long black hair, said in a monotonous voice. "I'm Saten Ruiko."

Uiharu's eyes went wide as she recognized the name. It was the name of the No. 3 Level 5!

 _It can't be_ that _Saten Ruiko, right?_

"Are you lost, Saten-san?" Uiharu pressed forward.

 _Even if she_ is _that Saten Ruiko, I'm still Judgement and she does look like she needs help._

"No." The possible Level 5 said in the same robotic tone. "I was merely wandering the city to kill some time."

"Kill time? Don't you have any sort of after-school club to attend or something?"

"I don't go to school," Was her reply. "Not yet."

"Huh?" Uiharu asked, confused by the response.

"I was just adopted. My new mother is still sorting out my schooling."

"So you just wander the city in the meantime?"

"Yes."

"And your mother allows this!?" The Judgement agent asked incredulously. "Isn't that dangerous? You're what, twelve?"

"So are you." The strange girl said tilting her head to the side in what might be confusion, though it seemed forced, as if she was just imitating the motion.

"I'm eleven and three quarters." Kazari affirmed. "That's not the point though, I can take care of myself. I'm a member of Judgement after all."

The other girl gave a forced shrug, almost as if she was just going through the motions again. "I am a Level 5. Not much can hurt me."

Kazari felt frozen where she stood… for obvious reasons.

 _L-L-Level 5?!_ The young member of Judgement screamed in her mind. She was really a Level 5! She really was _that_ Saten Ruiko! She was lecturing a Level 5 of all people? Kazari only knew some details about the level 5s, mainly about how powerful they were and how they could, with their awesome power, theoretically destroy whole armies. With that it mind, it was easy to forget some of them were roughly her own age due to how grand they were compared to the rest of the 'lowly masses' of Academy City.

"Ah! Well, ehem." Kazari coughed into her hand, trying desperately to regain her composure. "Well, still! Even if you are a Level 5, it is my job to help you."

"...With what exactly?"

Kazari pondered just what she could do as well. She looked around the park, they were a bit too old to go play on the equipment. A jingle tickled her ears and she eyed the ice cream truck across the park and smiled.

"You said you needed to kill time?"

"I did…so?"

"How about I help with that?" Uiharu offered tentatively. "Maybe we can spend time together? We can meet here, it's a good place." Gesturing to the ice cream truck, she shot the other girl a cheeky smile. "It even has ice cream."

The Level 5 turned to eye the truck and nodded slowly, as if uncomprehending of what it meant. "I see no problem with that."

"Alright! Let's go!" Kazari cheered and grasped the other girl's hand. "I'm getting strawberry with chocolate fudge and nuts, you?"

"Vanilla?" The more powerful esper said a little uncertainly.

 _~ Flashback Ends ~_

* * *

"Hehe." Kazari laughed to herself and looked at the picture tacked near her computer. It was a selfie of herself and Saten-san eating ice cream, she herself was smiling while the Level 5 looked like she was trying to force one out herself and failing miserably.

They bonded and talked for days in that park, like it was their personal hangout spot.

* * *

 _~ Flashback ~_

Ever since that first day they had met a week ago, Uiharu had lived up to her promise to help Saten-san kill time and had persistently met up with the other girl every day. Even over the weekend!

Over that time, the Judgement agent had noticed something. Saten-san's behavior was very odd at times. She kept her parts of their conversations short, replying in short sentences at best. And she had difficulty expressing her emotions physically. She tried of course, but it was so clearly forced.

Now after a week of friendship, Kazari felt it was the right time to ask about it.

"Saten-san, can I ask you a question?" Kazari tentatively asked, as she and her new friend, the Level 5 Saten Ruiko, ate some ice cream as they walked from their usual meeting spot in the park to their favorite restaurant for some lunch.

"Of course, Uiharu-san." Saten nodded encouragingly as they reached their destination and a waiter guided them to a booth. "You did not even need to ask."

"Even if it's a little sensitive?" Kazari pressed hesitantly as she slipped into her seat.

Saten froze a little, her version of considering things, but there was none of the visible signs of confusion that most people would have shown. She had just completely stopped moving.

"Yes." The Level 5 finally said after a long moment.

"Well, can you tell me why you act so strangely?"

Saten turned to look at her in an almost robotic fashion, her movements was so stilted. She looked deeply into Kazari's eyes, like she was reading her soul, or at least trying to. Considering what she was capable of, the Level 1 wouldn't dismiss that possibility.

That was, of course, if the 'soul' was a real thing, which nobody in Academy City believed it was.

After another long moment, Saten finally replied.

"It is a byproduct of my power."

Kazari blinked in confusion. Saten continued though undeterred.

"When I emulate a esper's AIM field and through it their power, I also emulate their Personal Reality. This includes shades of themselves: their thoughts, feelings, and memories."

Kazari's stomach lurched as she tried to imagine something like that. That was tantamount to letting someone, or at least as Saten-san put it: a shade of them, possess her to use their power, didn't it?

She wanted to say something, to offer some comfort but before she could speak up, Saten-san pressed on.

"My power does not let me forget these templates either. These shades, all of them I've ever encountered, exist forever in my mind."

Kazari gulped.

"It got crowded very quickly." Saten said with a hint of bitterness, this time sounding genuine. "The shades began bleeding into my mind, making me think and act in ways that I know I would never do on my own accord."

 _That means-_

"It was driving me mad." The Level 5 confirmed the younger girl's fears. "I needed something to stay sane. So I created a system. I emulated a computer system. I sorted the shades away as if they were individual files or apps, grouped them into folders with other related powers and locked them all away."

"A computer-"

"Yes. But this came with a price. Maintaining this system takes up a lot of computational power, power that I otherwise would have used to process emotions, social norms and the like."

"You're not a computer though." Kazari told the Level 5, her chest felt tight at her friend's confession.

Saten-san gifted her with a grim smile. "If that's true, then I don't know how to act any other way. I-It's the only method I know to keep myself sane."

Kazari grasped the troubled girl's hand tightly, squeezing it with as much force as she could. The other girl grunted. "There! You felt that, computers don't feel, but you did. So no, Saten-san, you aren't a computer! You understand me!? You're not!"

The Level 1 felt amazed at herself, raising her voice, being stern? It was completely out of character for the shy girl. But if this was what she had to do, then she'd do it without hesitation. If Saten-san was having trouble, then she'd do her best to be there to help.

It's what friends do!

"Uiharu-san… You're making a scene." Saten-san whispered. "I'm not dampening the sound anymore, I took down the barrier after my explanation."

 _Sound dampening barrier? What?_

Clearly sensing her confusion, Saten-san added to her explanation. "I didn't want to let _everyone_ know about my power, just you. But it's down now, so please calm down. People are looking at us."

"Eh?" Kazari blinked, still a little lost, and looked around, the other patrons of the restaurant were staring at their booth. "Ah! Sorry!"

As she bowed to the other customers, she heard a giggle escape Saten-san's lips.

"Don't laugh at me, Saten-san!"

 _~ Flashback Ends ~_

* * *

Uiharu looked at the wallpaper of her desktop and couldn't resist the smile that once more stretched across her face. It was a screenshot of a spread of brochures from the various top schools of the City.

Going through those with Saten-san had been a very memorable experience. It had led to the event in which they truly cemented their friendship after all. When their friendship was proven to be reciprocal.

* * *

 _~Flackback~_

"Sorry, excuse me!" Kazari called out as she wiggled through a crowd in a panic. "Late, late, I'm late!"

She had just left her school after having been delayed and was rushing to meet up with her friend, Saten-san. Kazari nearly barreled into a garbage can at the speed she was going, but was stopped by an invisible grasp. Sighing in relief, she said. "Thank you, Saten-san."

The Level 5 walked over and placed her back on her feet. "You shouldn't run into trash cans."

 _At least her humor has improved._ Kazari dryly thought and brushed her skirt. "I was delayed, sorry for being late."

At her bow, Saten-san waved it off. "It's okay, let's just get started. You wanted to help me pick which Middle School I should go to, right?"

"Of course."

Strolling over to their favorite restaurant, the two settled down for the long haul and spent the next hour and a half discussing which of Academy City's many prestigious middle schools that had tried to entice the Level 5 to join their cohorts was the best choice.

"So you think Tokiwadai is the best then?" Saten-san asked for confirmation as they concluded their discussion.

"Yes!" The member of Judgement said with stars in her eyes. "It is _the_ school. It's an Ojou-sama paradise!"

At Saten-san's weirded out look, Kazari pulled back her starstruck admiration for Ojou-samas and cleared her throat. "Plus! There are already two other Level 5s there."

"Why would that matter?" Saten-san asked with a frown.

Tilting her head, Kazari gave her a reassuring smile, "Well maybe they can help you, that's why."

Saten-san nodded uncertainly. "If you say so."

"I do."

"Then I'll go there then." Saten-san said after a moment of further contemplation.

"Just like that?" The level 1 blinked, "Based on my opinion?"

"Of course, I trust you," Saten-san admitted earnestly. "So Uiharu-san, can I ask you why you were late today? I was worried."

"Ah, well." Kazari offered a weak smile. "I was just held back by some of my friends at school."

Saten-san sat straighter at this and shot Kazari a skeptical eye.

She let the matter drop though, and didn't push the issue. Kazari was thankful for that.

* * *

Kazari was leaving her school the next day on her way to meet up with Saten-san when she received a pleasant surprise.

"Yo, Uiharu-san." Saten-san greeted her, appearing out of nowhere! Looking shockingly casual while doing it too, she even had a half finished soda can in her hand as she leaned against one side of the school's gate.

"Ah! Saten-san, don't scare me like that!" Kazari scolded, her heart racing at the surprise.

"Oi, Uiharu, who's this?" One of her classmates asked rudely.

"This is my friend, Saten Ruiko-san." The Judgement officer said, a hint of pride in her voice.

"What? Like _that_ Saten Ruiko?" "The Level 5?" "No way! Why would she be with a Level 1 like you?"

She looked towards her friend, whose eyes were narrowed just a bit. For a moment, the younger girl worried that the Level 5 would do something reckless. But she instead just took a gulp from the soda as another floated up from the ground beside her and headed towards the Level 1.

"Eh? For me?" Blinking twice, Kazari asked in mild confusion. Saten-san just nodded and so she grasped it. The can was chilled to just the right temperature. Shocked, she looked up at Saten-san and waited for an explanation.

"Mm." Saten-san smiled as she obliged. "I kept it cool with some cryokinesis, since it was hot today."

The Level 5 finished her own can and tossed it into the air behind her. The aluminum can immediately began to corrode and melted into nothingness long before it got anywhere near touching the ground.

Kazari's classmates', who had been bullying her for months now, jaws dropped as they gawked at the display of multiple powers which confirmed that Saten-san was really who she said she was.

"So where do you want to go hang out?"

Kazari smiled, shaking her head. "The usual is just fine, Saten-san."

"Then off we go!" The Level 5 said with enthusiasm as she grasped the other girl's shoulder and teleported them away to Joseph's Coffee and Restaurant.

At the door of their usual favorite restaurant, Kazari couldn't help but ask, "How did you know?"

Saten-san smiled a little and said. "Well, I did some research and decided to help you out a bit. That's what friends do for each other, right?"

At her uncertain look, Kazari smiled and gave her friend a great big hug. "Yes, they do. Thank you, Saten-san." Pulling away after a few seconds, Kazari raised a finger. "Though you should remember that I am still a member of Judgement after all. I can take care of myself."

Saten-san just smiled and held up her hands at the small lecture. "Hai hai, Judgement-chan."

 _~ Flashback Ends ~_

* * *

"Uiharu, stop daydreaming! It's time for our patrol." Shirai-san shouted right into Uiharu's ear.

"Ow!" The computer prodigy shouted at the sudden interruption to her ponderings. "Shirai-san! Don't do that. Why did you suddenly shout at me like that?"

"You weren't paying attention to me when I called you before. I didn't have a choice." Shirai-san lectured her, poking Kazari's forehead. "You have to be more aware of your surroundings."

"Oh! Sorry about that."

Kuroko nodded. "Just get ready to go. Our patrol starts in a few minutes."

"Hai!"

* * *

A few minutes into their patrol, the two girls from Judgement found nothing to be out of the ordinary. At least, by Academy City standards.

"Uiharu, you better not let your mind wander like you did earlier. Out on patrol, we'll need to keep our eyes peeled for anything suspicious." Shirai-san explained, her eyes bouncing between every nook and cranny as they walked. "Even the tiniest detail can point us to someone who needs our help."

"Mm!" Kazari nodded as she rapidly typed on her phone. "I'm already following the feed from the local security cameras, Shirai-san! We won't miss anything."

"As expected of you, Uiharu." The teleporter nodded in approval.

They kept a good pace during the patrol, though they stopped a few times to offer help to people on the street. Some were asking for directions, Shirai-san even lectured someone about littering, and on one occasion they had to settle a potential fight between a few rowdy students.

Kazari smiled as it was just a regular day in Judgement despite being on patrol while a dangerous bomber was on the loose.

As they stopped at a corner, waiting for the traffic to stop so they could cross the street, Kazari looked at a nearby store and gazed upon a pretty frilly dress that screamed at her love of Ojou-samas.

A giggle passed her lips as she thought of Misaka-san in it, but shook that thought away. The [Railgun] was way too much of a tough girl to ever wear something like that. Smiling to herself, she recalled when they had all went to the arcade once, Misaka-san had ended up hollering at the game machine she was playing the whole time as it ate her tokens.

 _Hehe, she really is a pretty down to earth kind of girl._

"What are you giggling at, Uiharu?" Shirai-san asked, nudging her with her shoulder. "The light's changed, we can cross now."

"Oh! Sorry." Kazari flushed. "I was just thinking of Misaka-san in that dress, but realized she probably wouldn't wear it."

Shirai-san looked over her shoulder as they crossed the street. "Hm, Onee-sama could do better. She needs something more mature than cute."

"Hm, maybe."

"Though why are you thinking about MY Onee-sama in cute outfits?" Shira-san furrowed her brows, her tone implying suspicion. She stared at the level 1 for a few seconds before shrugging her shoulders, "Anyway, did you manage to pick up on anything despite your musings?" Shirai-san asked her curtly.

"Oh, uh, nope! Everything is perfectly fine so far, Shirai-san."

The twin tailed girl nodded. "Good."

They made it to the other side and turned the corner, walking pass some vending machines. "Best keep hydrated. I looked up the weather, apparently it's going to be 30 degrees celsius today. Plus our route is pretty long today."

"It's a good thing these are fake." Kazari patted her flower headpiece. "Or they'd have wilted by now."

"Indeed, so what do you want?" The Teleporter asked, holding up her wallet. "You paid last time, so it's my treat this time."

"Coffee milk." The tech wiz replied as she moved towards a tree for some shade. Once again, the Level 1 looked around her while she waited for her friend to bring over their drinks. Looking across the road she saw a store that caught her attention. It was a tech store that had on display the latest consumer robot, a toy in the shape of a large dog.

Seeing the robot immediately brought Saten-san to mind. It was unfair to her friend, but Kazari couldn't help it. Not with how famous that hated moniker of Saten-san's was.

As thoughts of Saten-san filled her mind, Uiharu began to compare her to Misaka-san. The [Railgun] could be said to still be basically a normal person, but loathe as the computer expert was to admit it, her best friend was most assuredly not. She lived up to her moniker a little too well. With the emotionless way she carried herself and her oftentimes mechanical mannerisms, she came across as a robot, just like that dog in the store window. One that was just masquerading as a human. Often not very well to boot.

 _And it's all because of her ability._ Kazari mused sadly. _For all the power it's given her, it's also taken away so much from her. Her humanity… Stripped away by something that most would consider a blessing!_

 _It's totally unfair!_ The middle schooler reasoned as she glared at the tech store and the robot that had set off this train of thought. _Why couldn't Saten-san have a ability that didn't hurt her, something like Misaka-san's or Namikaze-san's?_

Shaking her head to dislodge her anger, Uiharu looked away to stare at her phone and its wallpaper. It was a selfie of Saten-san and herself out shopping, one of Kazari's many attempts to help her best friend to humanize herself more.

 _Getting angry at fate for what it did to Saten-san won't help anything. All I can do is live up to my promise and help her rediscover her humanity._

She nodded her head in determination.

 _And there's nothing, nothing at all, that will stop me._

"Ei!" Kazari squeaked as she felt something cold on her cheek.

 _Except a cold drink can it seems..._ Uiharu thought ruefully.

"Ui-ha-ru." Shirai-san said in an annoyed tone, dangling the coffee milk in front of her. "Please, pay attention. Your absent mindedness today makes me wonder whether it would have just been better to leave you back in the office."

"B-B-But!" Kazari sputtered, trying to come up with an excuse as she took the offered drink. "I-I was thinking about some new hardware upgrades that might help my systems back at the 117th Branch! I swear!"

The Level 4 made a doubtful sound, but didn't press the issue. "Very well, but keep a vigilant eye on the feeds if you will."

"H-Hai!" She nodded earnestly and popped the tab on her can, taking a sip.

"Time to move!" Shirai-san ordered after a moment and began to walk forward.

"We just stopped though!" Kazari frowned, quickly trying to gulp down her drink.

Her friend just flipped one of her twintails. "We cannot doddle, Uiharu."

Kazari withheld a whine and followed after her, tossing her now almost empty can of coffee milk away into a nearby trash can. As she caught up with her partner, she did a quick sweep of the surrounding area via the cameras and found nothing out of the ordinary. Relaxing a little, she tuned in on her more immediate surroundings.

"Hey, did you hear about the new movie?" A couple of older girls said as they passed the Judgement duo.

"That one? Oh yeah, I hear it's pretty good!"

"We should see it next time after school."

"Sure!"

 _New movie?_ Kazari pondered, when was the last time she actually saw a movie? Looking up, she spotted a big billboard that featured a movie about an angel and a devil, which were thus prominently featured on the advert. There was even a store nearby selling some merchandise.

"Judgement-onee-san! Can you help me." A young boy walked up to them, holding up a map.

"Ah, most certainly." Shirai-san said with a smile as she knelt down to talk to the boy. "Where are you trying to get to?"

As Shirai-san helped the boy, Kazari looked at the poster with a sad look. She would even go as far as relying on unscientific methods like angels and devils if it could help Saten-san.

 _Still, I wonder what the movie is about? Maybe I should ask Saten-san. She seems to know everything._ She eyed the halo and fluffy white wings bits of an angel costume hanging in the window of the store. Amusement filled her as her thoughts shifted. _Or maybe Namikaze-san would know more, she's pretty trendy after all. Besides since she's quite the 'angel', this might just be right up her alley._

The angelic motif of the costume greatly fit the girl after all. With her innocent looks, coupled with her serene smile and beauty? It was nearly a perfect match.

She looked to the right of the angel costume and noticed a set of red devil horns and leathery wings. She sweatdropped a little and couldn't help but realize that this particular outfit would fit Namikaze-san as well. With how scary and devious the blonde could be, and just how she ruthlessly teased their little group? It wasn't hard to fit the blonde into the devil's role.

 _Not to mention her gluttonous stomach. That just had to be a demonic trait!_ Kazari thought with a sniffle. It just wasn't fair with how much sweets Namikaze-san could eat, that she somehow managed to still look so petite and fit.

"Uiharu!" Shirai snapped, painfully pulling on Kazari's cheeks. "Pay. Attention!"

"I'm swrry! I'm swrry!" The flower wearing girl protested. It seemed Shirai-san had sent the young boy on his way with the proper directions and had caught her daydreaming again. And was none too happy about it.

"No you aren't! I'll be sure to give Konori-sempai a full report on your lack of attention just so you could think about seeing a movie!"

Her cheeks finally freed, Kazari rubbed them. "I-It's probably not even that good."

Her friend just gave her a menacing glare, which made the Level 1 gulp.

"This is your last chance." The twintail girl warned. "Let's head towards the food court down the street. We can pick up some gossip along the way and try to filter anything useful over dinner."

"Dinner? Is it that late already?"

"Yes it is." Shirai-san responded with an exasperated sigh. "You've been so distracted that you completely forgot the time, didn't you?"

"Ehehehe!" Kazari laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry."

Sighing, Shirai-san just shook her head. "Let's get going."

Kazari just nodded, knowing that her partner was mad at her. It wasn't all her fault though, she had a lot on her mind!

"You are paying for the food this time." Shirai-san added sharply.

"Hai…" Kazari could already feel her wallet going on a diet now. She was sure the Teleporter was going to order something expensive.

She slumped her shoulders, but nevertheless followed her friend along dutifully.

They came to a traffic light, and as Kazari followed the blinking lights, she felt her mind wander once more.

 _I guess Saten-san, Misaka-san and Namikaze-san are like that traffic light. Misaka-san is green since she's so normal; Saten-san is red because she's so inhuman; while Namikaze-san is yellow because she's somewhere in-between as she's weird but not overly so._

She was brought out of her thoughts, not by Shirai-san this time, thankfully, but by a voice calling out from nearby.

"Take this!" A feminine voice exclaimed, only to be followed by a thunderus boom.

As the sound of the explosion died out, the two girls froze and exchanged a wide eyed look. Screaming filled the air as students ran away from the blast or ran towards it out of curiosity.

"Uiharu, let's go!" The Teleporter ordered and grasped her shoulder, teleporting the two girls towards the scene.

They landed by the smoking area and Shirai-san shouted out. "Halt! This is Judgement-!"

She was stunned into silence along with the Level 1 as they saw a familiar petite blonde, stomping on a large bellied man. He was slightly singed, and so were about a half dozen other men lying on the ground nearby.

"O-Ohime-sama~!" He groaned out as Namikaze-san repeatedly stomped on him.

"Urasai! Ero! Pervert! Hentai! Lolicon!"

Kazari had never seen the Number 2 so angry before.

"J-Judgement has arrived!" Shirai-san called out again, gaining Namikaze-san's attention. She turned to them, a scary look on her face before it quickly shifted into a look more befitting a scared little rabbit instead of a fearsome Level 5.

She disappeared, teleporting right behind the Level 4, clinging to her back while her pigtails flailed around in a tizzy. "Shirai-chan! Arrest them! Arrest them!"

At her demand, Shirai-san let out an annoyed sigh. "Namikaze-san, I thought you were more responsible than this. Honestly, pulling an Onee-sama. Since when have you started imitating her? You were the culprit behind that explosion, weren't you? This is a waste of Judgement's time!"

Namikaze-san puffed up her cheeks. "They're my stalkers! They've been tailing me for five blocks now as I was shopping. They even took pictures of me and I think one of these ero-bakas even followed me into the bathroom. I was defending my maiden's honor!"

 _Speak of the devil and she cometh._ Kazari giggled to herself quickly.

"This is no laughing matter, Uiharu!" Shirai-san complained, trying to peel Namikaze-san from her back. "Namikaze-san, please!"

"Arrest them!"

"Namikaze-sama!" One begged, who creepily had blonde bunny ears on his head, as he feebly tried to get up. "Punish me more, my ruthless Hime-sama!"

All three girls' faces heated up at those words.

"Urasai you filthy hentai!" She warned. "Or I'll break your legs!"

"Step on me more, Naru-hime!"

Namikaze-san stomped her feet repeatedly behind her fellow Tokiwadai student, like an angry rabbit funnily enough. "Gah! I hate eros like you! Leave me alone!"

Kazari decided to play diplomat here and approached the downed stalkers and gently lectured them. "Excuse me, but can you please leave Namikaze-san alone? It's very wrong to stalk a little girl you know? If you continue, then I'll have no choice but to call Anti-Skill."

"I say toss them into a dark hole and throw away the key." Namikaze-san grumbled, glaring at them in disgust.

A few of the stalkers nodded in understanding. While a few others looked reluctant.

"And please leave all cameras behind." Shirai-san added, glaring down at them. "We will personally delete all illicit pictures. You may come to the 177th Branch office to collect them tomorrow."

They all started to groan and complain at this, but Namikaze-san's mood seem to turn fouler, her sharp eyes looking almost deadly.

"Now!" She barked the order like an owner would to a dog.

The stalkers did as they were told, looking oddly happy.

Namikaze-san teleported once more and hugged Kazari tightly. In fact, she lifted her off the ground. "Uiharu-chan, you're the best! I'll buy you three cakes in the _Garden_ for this. No! Five!"

At hearing this, the tech wiz's eyes became literally starry-eyed.

* * *

Across the street was a teenaged boy sporting glasses and grayish-brown hair. He was dressed in a school uniform with a pair of headphones over his ears as he listened to his favorite music. One of his hands was stuffed into a satchel he was carrying, as he toyed with the items within.

Looking at the pair of Judgement agents helping out a Level 5, he felt his anger steadily grow.

 _And where were they when I needed help?_

He closed his fist around something in his satchel.

 _I could get my revenge, right here, right now._

The sight of the Level 5 gave him pause though.

 _No. I just need to be patient. Attacking them now, with a Level 5 here, will just get me caught. Long before I get my revenge._

His eyes narrowed as he eyed that Judgement girl with the flowers in her hair.

 _And I know who I'm targeting next._

With a sinister smile on his face, he walked off, dreams of revenge percolating through his mind.

* * *

"Beginning with the first victim a week ago," Konori-Sempai said as she begun the briefing on the spate of Graviton Bombings for the 177th Branch. "The force and scale of these serial graviton attacks have been increasing."

Kuroko sucked in a worried breath at hearing that and shot Uiharu a look. It was clear that her partner shared her concerns.

"We have been unable to recognize any pattern in their time or location," Konori-sempai continued with the briefing, as photos of the evidence from the case flashed onto the screen of the conference room. It showed images of seemingly random items such as a fragment of a spoon, torn up bits of a aluminum can, and bits of what had been a teddy bear. "And even after using psychometry to examine the articles left behind, we still don't have any leads."

 _Damn!_ Kuroko cursed in frustration, biting her thumbnail in the process. This situation was just getting out of hand. She glanced towards Uiharu, who also had a concerned look on her face.

"To prevent any more casualties, we are working with Anti-Skill. This will help as tighten security across the City and allow us to more easily solve this case."

At the end of the briefing, Konori-sempai added. "We'll take a five minute break and then proceed with patrol schedules and quick response protocols to handle this case. For safety's sake, we have a few new additions to our current protocols."

 _Hmm… If we're working with other groups like Anti-Skill already then why don't we bring in more help too. Maybe we can bring Saten-san in as a consultant? She knows more about esper powers than even specialists. With that knowledge I'm sure she'd be a great help. Maybe she could even help us identify a suspect using that AIM tracking aspect of her ability. It's something to bring up at least._

As Kuroko tapped her pen idly in thought, Konori-sempai walked over to her and Uiharu. "Hey."

She gave them a tired smile. Not surprising really, many of the senior Judgement officers had been pulling late nights on this case recently. "Are you two holding up well? You had a scare the other day I heard."

"It was just Namikaze-san defending herself." Uiharu told their sempai.

"Please tell [Maniforce] to avoid causing any more explosions for a while, could you?" Konori-sempai placed her hands together in a playful begging manner.

"Don't you mean from henceforth, Sempai?" Kuroko pursed her lips.

"Most Level 5s are hard to manage or so I hear. So we little folk have to avoid stepping on their toes too much sadly." Their sempai shrugged.

"Saten-san isn't like that!" Uiharu heatedly protested.

"Or Onee-sama… Mostly." Kuroko added when she took note of the disbelieving looks she got. "Though Namikaze-san is a wild card as most of the time she just does whatever she pleases."

Uiharu laid her head on the table. "And that's teasing us most of the time. Ruthlessly."

Konori-sempai giggled. "Well, it's good to know not all the Level 5s are holier than thou about themselves. Be sure to bring them by some time, it would be nice to meet them."

Uiharu jumped at the idea. "Of course!"

"It would be nice to show Onee-sama the office." Kuroko mused.

Konori-sempai clapped her hands. "Great! Well, get ready."

She pointed to the doorway the other Judgement officers were returning from. "Break time's over."

"Hai!" The two younger officers replied.

* * *

"Hello!" Saten greeted as she swung the door to the 177th Branch Office open, spending only a little effort to override the security functions that kept out intruders with her powers. "You in here, Uiharu?"

It was the weekend, and the Level 5 had barely seen her best friend all week. So she had decided to drop by.

"Saten-san?" The aforementioned girl cried out in surprise as she poked her head out from behind a shelf full of packing boxes that hid her workstation.

Before Saten could greet her friend, the office's other occupant addressed her. She was a high schooler, at least judging by her uniform, with short black hair and was wearing glasses. She had great proportions and was very well-endowed. Based on Uiharu's descriptions, this must have been her superior, Konori Mii-sempai.

"You're Saten Ruiko aren't you?" The older girl said as she stood to greet her.

Saten nodded robotically. Despite all the good things Uiharu had told her about the older girl, she was still a stranger and Ruiko was never comfortable with those. Not anymore. She could never trust them.

"Heh, well, welcome to the 177th Branch. Any friend of our little computer wiz is always welcome." Konori-sempai smiled warmly with genuine fondness, as if she had known Saten for ages. It felt weird, but also...nice. "Though next time, could you not bypass our security like that? Or else I'll have to arrest you." She ended this with a playful wink to show she was just teasing. At least that's what Ruiko thought she meant. She still wasn't very good with these kind of things.

Ruiko just nodded.

"Saten-san, what are you doing here?" Uiharu asked as she walked over.

"You've been working really hard lately, so I thought I would take you out for lunch or something."

"Lunch? But I still have-" Uiharu began only to be cut off by her superior.

"Whatever you're working on can wait till your next shift. It's a Saturday and your shift is over. Go enjoy yourself."

"Eh? I still have a few hours left-"

"Do I need to make it an order?" The bespectacled girl said as she crossed her arms and stared down at Uiharu authoritatively.

"No, Sempai."

"Good, now hussle and enjoy yourself for me, will you?" Konori-sempai ordered while ruffling Uiharu's hair affectionately.

"Hai, Sempai!"

Saten's face gave a tiny smile at the scene. Uiharu was lucky to have such a nice boss, she highly approved of Konori-sempai's work style.

As the two middle schoolers left the office, Saten smiled at her friend.

"Hey Uiharu, want to hang out tomorrow too? We could go to Seventh Mist and do some shopping."

 _Inviting her out is the least I can do. After all, I'm the one indirectly responsible for all the work that's been keeping her so busy lately._

Guilt clung to Ruiko's heart as she forced herself to look cheerful, at least for Uiharu's sake.

"I'd love to, Saten-san, but I'm just too busy."

Saten tried to pout. It was supposed to help convince people didn't it? Namikaze-san tended to do it all the time to get her way. From the look Uiharu was shooting her through, her pout fell far from the mark though.

"I'm really sorry, Saten-san. But I just can't. Not when there's a mad bomber on the loose."

Darn. So her pout was a failure after all. Maybe she should go home and practice pouting in the mirror before trying again? It would help her facial muscles if nothing else.

Maybe she should pull in Namikaze-san for some tips?

After all, you just have to bribe her with sweets and she'd do practically anything.

* * *

It was another busy day for Uiharu and Kuroko as the Judgement partners worked diligently at the 177th branch to try to dig up some clues to the Graviton Bombing case that had preoccupied them so much lately. The duo were currently clustered around Uiharu's customized computer at the back of the office, reviewing all the available evidence in a bid to find new leads.

"Oh bother!" Kuroko complained as she rested her chin atop Uiharu's head, both staring at the computer monitor. "If only we had a little more to go on!"

"Yes, indeed. All we know is that it has to be a Level 4 or higher esper."

Kuroko pulled away to stroke her chin in thought. "But [The Bank] says there are no matches found. Perhaps it's an esper who had a dramatic leap in power over a short period. Like that eyebrow girl."

Uiharu looked annoyed, perhaps even a touch darker at the mention of the girl who had attacked her in their previous case. "No, that's impossible. Besides, she only went up one Level to Level 3. There's no way someone registered in [The Bank] could have jumped more than one Level without anyone noticing."

"I suppose you're right. That would be impossible." Kuroko conceded. "Going up one Level could be explained by some kind of breakthrough but more than that? Impossible. And there are no Level 3s who fit the bill. So that's another dead end, I guess. And there are no Level 3s who fit the bill either."

Uiharu flashed her a smile. "Perseverance! Let's go over the fragments left behind from the top."

With a few rapid keystrokes, she brought up the compiled data on the case so far. In response to this, Kuroko gained a determined look of her own. "Absolutely!"

As they sifted through the data they had, Kuroko tentatively brought up an idea of hers. "Perhaps we should ask Saten-san to aid us as a consultant? Her AIM sensing would be most helpful in this matter."

Uiharu shifted in her seat, her diligent digits stopping their previously tireless track across the keyboard. "I don't want to cause Saten-san any trouble. This has got nothing to do with her, it's a Judgement matter."

"But Uiharu, she could-"

"Please Shirai-san," The tech wiz pleaded, looking down. "I feel bad enough that she had to get involved with the Tokiwadai Hunt case."

Kuroko wilted at the pleading, when Uiharu shot her a determined look too, she conceded with a sigh. "Well, okay. If you're _that_ against it. It was just an idea I had."

It seemed Uiharu was utterly resolved that Saten have as much of a normal life as possible it seemed.

The Teleporter couldn't help but smile a little to herself.

It looked like Judgement's little wallflower was growing up.

"Alright, let's get back to going over the data." Uiharu said as they both continued looking at the case from scratch one more time.

* * *

Mikoto walked down the street, a frown on her face. "Looking for a fight? Geez, Kuroko, I'm not like that at all."

Pouting at the way her roommate had implied she was some fight junkie, and all because she was nice enough to offer her help to the obviously stressed and overworked girl, if even a little.

 _Talk about unfair._

As the [Railgun] continued to pout, she looked across the street and saw a familiar face. Smiling, she waved and called out. "Saten-san!"

Her kohai vanished a second later.

"Misaka-san." A disturbingly monotonous voice greeted from right besides Mikoto's ear, causing the Electromaster to nearly jump out of skin.

"Ei! Don't do that!" Mikoto scolded, glaring at the black haired girl.

For her part, the other Level 5 just tilted her head in apparent confusion. She looked so unfeeling that Mikoto almost believed her, but the barest hint of a smirk gave her away.

Coughing into her fist, Mikoto asked. "You want to get a drink?"

[Multi-Skill] shifted a bit, an unsure look on her face. Well, unsure for her anyways.

 _Honestly,_ Mikoto mused to herself in amusement. _If I wasn't hanging out with her regularly lately, I'd have completely missed it. She's so hard to read, no wonder people call her [The Robot]._

"Come on, my treat." The Electromaster bribed with a small smile.

Saten gave a small nod after a minute, a literal minute, of consideration before the two headed over to a little outdoor cafe in a nearby park where they purchased some drinks. After retreating to a table under a tree, Mikoto sighed. "Things must be hard on Uiharu-san like they are for Kuroko, huh?"

Saten just nodded as she methodically sipped from her drink.

"Let me guess, Uiharu-san told you not to get involved either right?" Mikoto rolled her eyes.

"Uiharu informed me that the matter didn't concern me and demanded that I should not get involved." Saten said with obvious sadness, looking off to the side.

"Geez, Kuroko was the same!" Mikoto tilted her head back to look at the tree above them. "'This is a Judgement matter.' She told me, as if I was going to run in and do something about it."

As Mikoto took a sip of her drink, Saten said. "Don't you usually get involved somehow?"

The older girl choked on her drink a little. "It's not like I go looking for these problems! They come to me!"

"That's one way to explain it I suppose." Saten said skeptically, before her shoulders slumped and she continued in a dejected tone while looking down. "I really wish that we could help them somehow."

 _She keeps avoiding looking into my eyes._ Mikoto observed. _She must feel guilty for not being able to help Uiharu-san._

The brunette offered a sympathetic look. After a moment, she grinned. "We might not be able to help, but we can at least relax a little. I mean, there's no reason for _us_ to stress about it, right? Thankfully, that damned Usagi isn't here. So we can enjoy the peace while we can."

"I like having her around with us, actually. You two are rather comical together." Saten said as she stirred her drink.

Mikoto's eye twitched. "What are we? A slapstick duo?"

"Yes, definitely."

The [Railgun] nearly fell out of her seat at the fast and brutally honest reply. Instead, she just laid her face on the table in resignation.

 _And between the two of us, I'm probably the comedic foil._ The Number 5 realized with a groan.

After dwelling on that fact for a moment, she was struck with an idea that caused her to abruptly straighten in her seat with a smile. "Hey, how about we invite everyone to go shopping tomorrow? Those two could use a break I think."

"Does that also include Namikaze-san?"

Through gritted teeth, Mikoto replied. "I swear I'm going to regret this, but yeah. That Chibi too. She _is_ our friend too, I guess…" She averted her gaze and muttered. "...Somehow."

She got a wooden smile for her troubles as Saten commented. "I think you like having Namikaze-san around more than you care to admit."

"What?!" Mikoto sputtered, pounding a fist on the table. "That, that's utter nonsense! Like I would!"

Seriously, the damn blonde just loved to poke fun at her. Just because Namikaze was cute as could be didn't mean anything. It was outweighed by far by that damn monstrous side of hers that was a terror and just pissed Mikoto off like nothing else.

She was going to give that lop eared brat a thrashing one day for all the teasing she did.

Why couldn't Namikaze just stick with being cute?

"Heh. Kaa-san was right, you are a Tsundere."

That line broke Mikoto's train of thought, making her look wide eyed at her kohai. Anger built up around that last hated word, one she heard used to describe her far too often, and she snapped with a narrowed gaze.

"Urasai!" The Electromaster screamed with indignation.

* * *

Naru spread her arms out as she took in a deep breath as she and her friends stood in front of the mall in the Seventh District, Seventh Mist. It was one of the City's most popular shopping malls, especially among the female demographic as it was known for having some of the best and most affordable boutiques.

"Ah! Seventh Mist!" Naru exclaimed joyfully. "My fifth home!"

"How many homes do you have?" Misaka-sempai asked blandly.

Naru winked at her. "That's a se-cr-et~!"

Misaka-sempai just snorted at her, clearly unimpressed. She just didn't get it, probably because she was too much of a stick in the mud.

"Still, Sempai." Naru giggled into her hand in a lady-like fashion. "I heard from Shirai-chan about your little stint in Judgement. What happened? Didn't make the cut and got kicked out after only one day?"

Her hot-headed sempai looked ready to punch her out, but her cheeks were a bright pink as she also shot a look to Uiharu. She did after all take the poor girl's armband.

Said girl moved between the two Level 5s.

"Speaking of Shirai-san." Uiharu chimed in, clearly trying to redirect the conversation. Naru let her, she'd already gotten her kicks in and was satisfied for now. "It's sad that she couldn't make it."

"Missing our dashing Sempai trying on clothes?" Naru snickered. "She must be pulling at her twintails."

"Who's dashing?" Misaka complained with her hands on her hips.

"Well, since you're so tough and manly, many of the girls at our school see you as the princely type. Or the tomboy princess I guess." Naru tapped her chin in thought, trying to decide which was a better description for the chestnut haired girl.

The older girl clenched a fist, holding it up as sparks danced across her forehead. "You're just asking for it today. Don't push it."

"Actually, Shirai-san is currently trawling [The Bank] for potential suspects in the Graviton Bombing case." Saten-san added in 'helpfully'. "Based on footage from multiple sources she appears calm. I doubt she is reacting like you describe Namikaze-san."

[Maniforce] nodded at this numbly, even as she felt on edge at what Saten had just revealed.

 _Is she always spying on us? Seriously? She better not be checking in on me when I'm doing my research, how voyeuristic. I have enough people keeping tabs on me as is._

From the way Misaka-sempai tensed, she felt the same. Uiharu-san however seemed unfazed by the whole thing, almost as if she was used to it.

"Boo, Saten-chan is no fun." The blonde pouted. "Let me dream here."

Despite what she said however, she still nervously took a quick look around to see if there was any cameras or anything else that looked suspicious. Thankfully, nothing set off alarm bells. She did however notice a rather creepy fellow staring at them from across the street as he held a frog plush, smiling like a loon.

 _Great, another lolicon._ Naru whined in her mind. No! She was not dealing with this today. She was going to have fun, shop, and tease her friends till they fainted from embarrassment!

And that wasn't in any particular order either.

"Come on, let's hit the fourth floor. I hear they have a sale going." The blonde said in a chipper voice, in a hurry to get away from the awkward conversation.

Running ahead, she forced the others to follow after her. Saten, the cheating cheater, just used some fancy spatial manipulation bullshit to allow them to keep pace even though they just strolled behind her.

And Saten wondered why Naru said she was no fun.

As they rode the escalator up, Uiharu asked, "Namikaze-san, you seem excited today. Why is that?"

Naru held up a finger. "Uiharu-chan, that's as if asking why the sky is blue! I love shopping. It's a straight out hobby of mine. You want to know where a sale is. I'll know. You want to know where to find a certain type of item. I would know." She smiled confidently, proud of herself. "I am the Shopping Crusader! Always looking for the right price for the perfect goods."

"You do realize how dorky you sounded there, right?" Misaka-sempai snidely commented.

"Says the Gekota Dork Queen."

"...Point to Namikaze-san." Saten said in her usual monotone, though there was the barest hints of amusement.

"Whose side are you on!?" Their sempai snapped at the black haired Level 5, before turning to glare at Naru with her arms crossed. "How can you even afford such a hobby anyway? I've seen some of the stuff you wear, it's all really pricey stuff, like out of fashion magazines pricey."

Naru shrugged as she bounded up the escalator. "I work hard, so I play hard. Simple as that."

"And what part-time job pays enough to have you parading around with a different branded handbag every other week?"

Naru offered a mysterious wink. "Oh you know, a small job here, a small job there."

"...I'm not the only one finding this shady, right?" Misaka-sempai whispered. Uiharu nodded in agreement.

"Yes you are. I know where she works." Saten commented offhandedly, before her best friend could say anything.

The blond Level 5 kept her smile up, but it became a touch dangerous as she sent Saten a warning look.

"Really!?" Uiharu and Misaka both shouted in surprise as they looked to her classmate in shock.

Saten shrugged and replied. "She does some modeling for Tokiwadai and some businesses."

 _At least she knows not to blab. Too much, at least._

"Oh! I've seen some of those pictures." Uiharu said dreamily, as her fascination with ojou-samas caught up with her again. "She looks so pretty in those. The lolita ones were my favorite."

In contrast to the flower wearing girl's enthusiasm, Misaka-sempai just frowned.

 _Well, unlike Uiharu-chan, she'd know that modeling doesn't pay_ that _well. Not on the small scale I do it at least._

Thankfully her sempai couldn't comment on it as Uiharu had started asking all kinds of questions about modelling that Naru was more than happy to answer. If for no other reason than because it seemed to distract Misaka-sempai as much as it did herself.

Though she did curse Saten for opening that darn Pandora's Box.

Misaka-sempai was the type of person to snoop into other people's business. So there was no way that she would let this go.

 _Hell, she'd probably ask about it at the worst possible time. Fuck you, Murphy._

Fortunately, the blonde was distracted from this depressing train of thought as they finally arrived at the floor they wanted. Looking around the fourth floor, she quickly spotted what she intended to be their first stop.

The lingerie store.

Naru was all smiles at this.

"I've got some stuff I need to pick up. Who wants to join me?"

Misaka-sempai and Uiharu flushed, while Saten looked disgruntled.

"We came all the way here, just so you could get some new panties?" The Electromaster wrinkled her nose.

"Oh no! I'm not the only one who needs it." Shooting the older girl a knowing look, she continued. "Sempai is a growing girl after all. So she'll need to stop wearing those moscot panties sooner or later. Why not now?"

"My panties are perfectly fine!" The chestnut haired girl shouted with a bright red face. "Why do I even bother replying!?"

Ignoring Misaka-sempai, Naru turned to the level 1 among them. "And Uiharu-chan probably needs some too."

"Eh?! Me?!"

Naru giggled into her hand. "With how much Saten-chan flips your skirt, you can't just be showing those childish ones! No, while you no doubt carry that adorkable personality, I can definitely see you wearing something sexy. Like a lacy garter belt with some stockings. If you wore something like that, you'll knock the boys dead for sure!"

Uiharu flushed crimson at that suggestion, and if it was physically possible, she would probably have had steam coming out of her ears too.

"Stop trying to influence the rest of us. You're the risque one here. I would dare say even more so than Shirai-san." Saten shot back a tiny flush gracing her face.

Naru was unsure if Saten was blushing because she was embarrassed or angry. It was incredibly difficult to read her.

 _Oi! Kurama, give me a mood check on [The Robot], will ya?_

 _ **Mm, I don't feel like it.**_ Her lazy no good tenant replied. _**Did you seriously wake me up just for this?**_

 _Yes, I did. You stupid lazy fuzzy butt._

 _ **Night.**_

 _It's two in the afternoon!_

The only reply she received was the sound of snoring.

Ugh, he was utterly hopeless, that blasted fox. She could punish him, but from experience, it wouldn't do much good really. Sure he'd be more obedient for a little while, but she'd let her guard down after a while and he'd just go back to being a lazy ass. It was a pain to keep him in line all the time, so she had learned to live with his laziness. It didn't mean she liked it though.

Naru looked at Saten with a proud look on her face and said. "It just means I'm more mature than you girls."

She even followed this with an ojou-sama-like hair flip of one of her pigtails.

"Mature my butt." Misaka-sempai dryly quipped.

"Well, not everyone needs to hide their big butts in shorts."

Misaka-sempai's eyes went wide at the jibe and twisted around to take a self-conscious check of her butt.

Naru grinned. "Made you look!"

"Gah! I'm going to get some pajamas." The [Railgun] stormed away, grumbling about rabbit stew of all things.

How odd.

"So you girls not getting anything?"

Both Uiharu and Saten shook their heads.

"Then I guess let's follow sempai."

"You're not getting anything, Namikaze-san?" Uiharu curiously as the trio followed after the oldest member of their group.

"No, I get my stuff from a more mature store. Shirai-chan took me there, remember?"

"...I have to learn to stop asking questions." Uiharu told herself aloud in a deadpan voice.

They moved on and found Misaka-sempai staring at a display mannequin wearing a set of childish pink pajamas with colorful flowers dotting it.

Excitedly, the older girl turned to the others. "Hey, look, these are so-"

"What a childish pair of pajamas."

"I wore something similar before when I was in elementary school." Uiharu added as she examined the pajama set.

Seeing the direct hits her sempai was taking because of her love of cute things, Naru decided to join in. "I could pull them off, but I think they're too sugary cute for my tastes."

She stifled a giggle at the brief defeated look her sempai had, though to the Electromaster's credit, she quickly recovered.

"S-Sure! Now that we're in middle school, we can't wear stuff like this, huh?" The [Railgun] held her chin, nodding in understanding. "Mm-mm, nope, nope."

Naru tried her hardest not to burst out laughing. Her sempai was just too easy to tease. It was almost as if the chestnut-haired esper was born to be the butt of jokes.

"If you're sure Misaka-sempai." Saten said after a moment. "Then could we go look at some swimsuits? Kaa-san told me that I need a new one, apparently our washing machine ate my old one."

"I think the swimsuits are over there." Uiharu pointed towards the seasonal clothing.

"I'll come!" Naru smiled. "I want to find a super cute swimsuit since Awatsuki-chan invited me to go swimming with her and some friends."

"That sounds nice. Let's go." The flower wearing girl said.

Naru walked with them as both she and Saten noticed their sempai staying behind, probably to try on the pajama set. Neither truly commented on it, as this was ammo for them as is.

Sifting through the racks looking for her size, Naru was having trouble picking between a black or orange bikini when she noticed someone talking with Misaka-sempai at the other end of the store.

Someone that Naru recognized instantly, and wished she didn't.

[Imagine Breaker].

A tall, spiky black haired, plain looking guy. You'd think he was just a regular high schooler, but Kamijou Touma was so much more than met the eye.

Muscles tensed, her grip cracked the hanger in her hand and she noticed Saten was also on edge. In fact, her classmate seemed to be far more tense than Naru was.

 _Is she really that frightened of [Imagine Breaker]?_

"Are you two okay?" Uiharu's voice snapped them out of their personal thoughts. With a quick glance, both agreed that it was best not to interact with Kamijou Touma if they could help it.

Naru grabbed a cute orange and white one piece and said. "Hey, I want to try this one? Think you can tell me what you think?"

"Are you forgetting that I'm the one who needs a swimsuit?"

"And I said I needed one also."

"You just want a new one to add to your collection. I need one to replace my only one."

"I was going to model for Uiharu-chan. Not many get a free show, you know." Naru stuck her tongue out at Saten. "It's a privilege."

Saten just shook her head in a vaguely dismissive way. "I have a better figure than you. If watching us model swimwear is a privilege than me doing so for Uiharu is the real highlight."

"Hmph! Decent figure is more like it. You've still got plenty room to grow."

"It is still better than yours." Saten shot back. "Do you want to compare three measurements?"

The blonde put a finger to her lips, smiling. "I would probably lose since I'm still growing, but I know all the right poses."

Saten promptly began pulling off some modelling poses.

"How?" Naru frowned.

"Powers plus info-gathering." Was her instant reply.

"You are so haxors."

[Multi-Skill] nodded.

 _Well, at least she's honest and upfront about it._ Naru acknowledged with a mental sigh. It made getting mad with the other Level 5 over her annoyingly convenient ability difficult.

"Whatever, you may have _some_ moves, but I'm still the cute one." The blonde puffed up her cheeks as she crossed her arms around the suit. "Just you wait, once I hit my growth spurt I'll be drop dead gorgeous like Mama."

Uiharu looked a little confused at their squabbling, but nevertheless wore a huge grin on her face for some reason.

"It's so good that you two get along so well." The Level 1 chimed in.

"Huh?"

Saten apparently understood where her best friend was coming from and with a shake of her head just ignored her, picked out a pretty simple bikini and stalked over to the changing rooms to try it on.

"At least pick something with a little razzle dazzle, Saten-chan." [Maniforce] complained. She insisted she had a better figure, so show it!

The other Level 5 just ignored her.

Typical.

After trying on a few suits, getting applause from Uiharu for each one, the girls picked their favorites and walked back to find Misaka-sempai.

Much to Naru and Saten's relief, it seemed that [Imagine Breaker] had left.

Seeing the older girl so down, Naru couldn't help but ask. "What happened to you?"

Misaka-sempai looked at the group tiredly. "It's nothing."

"Upset your _boy_ friend left you behind?" Came Naru's unavoidable tease.

Her sempai went rigid, her face burning, she locked wide eyes with Naru.

"W-What?!" She squeaked. "H-He isn't my boyfriend! He's not! No way would I want some jerk like that to be my boyfriend!"

"Oh?" Naru cocked her head to the side and innocently added. "Weren't you two hanging out at the riverbank the other night."

Misaka-sempai looked like she was struck in the gut.

"Holding hands, being close, looking ever so lovey-dovey~" She added with a kissy face.

Uiharu and Saten stared at the red faced Mikoto in surprise. "I-It's not what you think! She's just twisting words around!"

With a sly smile, Naru added. "He was twisting you alright."

"Gah!" Misaka-sempai's hands tugged at her short tresses in frustration. "Shut up!"

Naru was just getting into the groove of teasing her cute sempai when Uiharu's phone suddenly started to ring.

 _Why do I have a bad feeling about this?_

 _ **Maybe you ate something that didn't agree with you?**_ The confused and sleepy sounding voice of her tenant replied.

* * *

Ruiko was enjoying how Namikaze-san was seemingly effortlessly riling up Misaka-sempai. Their interactions where utterly hilarious to watch. It was almost enough to distract from the growing worries she was feeling from the increased activity in the network in the local area.

Ever since she'd detected the spike, she'd been debating with herself about whether she should say something. She could have easily spun it off as her detecting something with her myriad of emulated sensory abilities after all. But fear over the potential that doing so would somehow implicate herself and jeopardise the plan kept her from speaking up.

And now as Uiharu's phone started to ring, she just knew that her hesitation was about to come back and haunt her.

"Yes, hello-?"

" _Uiharu!_ " Shirai's voice blared from the phone for all of them to hear.

" _There's been an update on the Graviton attacks! One of Academy City's surveillance satellites has picked up an explosive acceleration of gravitons!"_ Ruiko heard Shirai-san say from the other end of the call through the use of some Electromastery to intercept the radio waves that carried the call.

"W-Where was it spotted?" She inquired.

" _Anti-Skill officers in the area are responding immediately, but you have to come back at once."_

"But where was it spotted?!" Uiharu demanded in a shout.

" _A clothing store called Seventh Mist, in the Seventh School District."_

"Eh? Seventh Mist…? That's perfect! That's right where I am now! I'll start an emergency evacuation at once!" She hung up her phone with a click and looked to them all with a calm visage.

Both Naru and Misaka tensed at the mention of an emergency evacuation and looked to Uiharu with concern. On her part, Saten just froze her expression in a bland look, something she had plenty of experience with, as she struggled to shove away her fear for her friend and guilt.

"Please listen and don't panic. We know where the attacker's next target is. It's this store!"

"I-It's what?" Misaka-sempai looked stunned.

Namikaze-san however looked annoyed. "Oh hell no. Why does something have to happen whenever I try to have a good time?"

"Misaka-san, Namikaze-san, begging your pardon, but could you two please help with the evacuation." Uiharu turned to her next. "Saten-san, can you-"

"I'm staying with you." Ruiko stated firmly.

 _I'm not risking you getting hurt. Not in an incident that I helped cause._

Uiharu looked hesitant for a moment, but after a searching look, sighed and conceded with a resigned nod.

 _Don't worry, Uiharu. I'll keep you safe._

"Hai, Uiharu-chan." Namikaze said as she looked to Misaka-sempai. "Oi, Sempai, let's get going and herd the sheep."

"They aren't sheep." Misaka-sempai scolded the blonde as she followed behind her.

"Says you."

* * *

In a rather impressive show of preparedness, the full evacuation of the mall only took a little under five minutes. As she made sure the last group of evacuees, a small group of staff, was safely outside the building, Naru rolled her shoulder. "Geez, I feel like I need a shepherd staff after that."

"I do see some grays." Misaka-sempai told her, smirking at her.

Her eye twitched at the jab, but seeing who was running towards them, Naru just grinned. "Oh look, your boyfriend's coming up behind you."

"Like I'm going to fall for tha-"

"Oi! Biri-Biri!" Kamijou Touma shouted as he came to a stop behind her sempai.

"Biri-Biri?" Naru's smile threatened to split her face.

"Urasai." The [Railgun] hissed at her, before turning to look at the boy.

"Have you seen that little girl?" He asked, a frantic look in his eyes.

"Huh? I thought she was with you!" The older girl exclaimed.

 _Little girl?_

"She's not outside." He looked at her seriously, "She could still be inside."

"What is she doing?!" Misaka-sempai said as she headed for the door.

"H-Hey!" He called after her as he gave chase.

As Misaka-sempai and [Imagine Breaker] ran back into the mall to find the missing child, Naru felt her curiosity get the better of her. Letting it drive her, she followed after the two of them to see how this whole thing would turn out.

* * *

As the evacuation was completed, Uiharu and Saten did a final sweep of the mall to ensure that they had not missed anyone in the process. So far they had not found anyone, but they still had quite a few stories to go.

Saten knew they would find something eventually, she could sense the bomb somewhere in the building. She couldn't pinpoint it more than that though, not without hacking into the bomber's mind via the network and reading his thoughts. That was something she just couldn't do, not without giving away the existence of the network. She'd tried tracking the gravitons that powered the bomb but none of her sensory powers had the precision to get a fix beyond 'somewhere in the building'. They were simply not precise enough when it came to the difficult to detect gravitons.

As they finished with their search of the mall, Uiharu pulled out her phone and made a call to Shirai-san.

"The evacuation is complete." The level 1 informed.

" _Get away from there this instant! The only human casualties incurred in past attacks were Judgement! The culprit's actual target is any Judgement officer in the observed area! Their target this time is_ you _, Uiharu!"_

"Eh?"

While Uiharu simply gasped in surprise, Saten practically had a heart attack at the news.

 _Uiharu is the target? We need to get out of here!_

Just as Saten was calming down her erratic heart and worked out how to best get Uiharu to safety without upsetting her, she heard a young voice calling out.

"Onee-chan!"

Spinning around to see the source of the voice, Saten saw a little girl running towards her and Uiharu with a frog plush clutched in her hands.

A plush that Saten realized immediately was the bomb. As the girl neared, the gravitons around the toy spiked so greatly and quickly that even her dull sensory powers were able to detect it.

Reacting immediately, she shifted her AIM field, discarding the patterns for the sensory abilities she'd held so far and shifting into one for telekinesis. With an application of will and a burst of rapid-fire computation, her newly emulated power answered her call and ripped the bomb from the girl's arms and flung it away from all three of them.

It was to this scene that Misaka, Namikaze, and [Imagine Breaker] arrived. Rounding the corner of the hallway behind the girl who had fallen to the ground as a result of the suddenness of what Ruiko had done.

Uiharu ran up to the girl, checking on her for any injuries but not before sending Ruiko a confused and angry look, but she steeled her heart and ignored it as she turned towards the bomb.

"Get behind me!" She called out as she swiftly swapped her emulated abilities and began furiously raising as many barriers as she could just as the frog started to sink into itself.

The new arrivals were obviously caught off guard by what Ruiko had done and only now as they saw the bomb detonating did they act. Well most of them anyways, Namikaze just smirked and did nothing, no doubt knowing things were under control.

Her sempai on the other hand, had not fully recomposed herself and in an uncharacteristic moment of clumsiness, she fumbled the draw of one of the arcade tokens she used as ammo for her Railgun, which she was clearly planning to use to destroy the bomb before it could fully unleash its payload.

As such, it was only [Imagine Breaker] that managed anything productive. Without a word, he stepped in front of the bomb. Much to Ruiko's annoyance, this meant he ran through and thus destroyed layers of the barriers she'd created to shield everyone from the bomb with that damn supernatural negating right hand of his.

 _Damn his stupid hero complex. I had this covered!_ Ruiko griped even as she reconstructed the barriers he'd destroyed, just in case. _You're just creating more work for me!_

Focused on her task, she just spared the boy an annoyed look.

Just as Ruiko finished repairing her barriers and Misaka-sempai drew a second token, the explosion went off thunderously.

* * *

Kaitabi Hatsuya, the so-called Graviton Bomber, stood among the crowd of evacuees and curious bystanders outside Seventh Mist and admired the explosion from his latest bomb. Smirking at the strength of the explosion, he turned away, all the while thinking about how his power had grown and was still growing.

 _Incredible! Outstanding! I'm getting so much better. I can control the power more and more!_ He thought as he chuckled to himself. _I'm almost there. Once I can handle a few more of them_ -

"I'll take out those useless Judgement folks and those punks too, blowing them awa-!"

He was just walking through a back alley, to avoid the crush of the crowd on the main street and the suspicious eyes of the authorities that would definitely be responding to the bombing, when he suddenly found himself being flung hard into a wall, face first.

He began to slide down the wall but before he dropped more than a few inches, he felt himself grabbed in a telekinetic hold once more and harshly spun around. His back slamming hard into the wall even as he was lifted off his feet, his sling bag filled with his ammunition slipping from his shoulders.

Finally catching a glimpse of his attacker, he gulped in terror.

Standing before him with a murderous glint in her eyes, was a girl with long black hair and an iconic flower shaped hairclip pinned to the right side of her hair. The unforgettable mark of the Level 5, [Multi-skill].

"W-What's going-"

He couldn't even finish his sentence as the concrete beneath him liquefied and he sank in. A moment later, it solidified, trapping him in the wall. His bag of ammunition well out of his reach.

"You tried to kill Uiharu." Her voice was monotone, yet it sent chills down the high schooler's spine. Flight or fight instincts took over and he wanted to flee, he wanted to flee so badly, but he couldn't move.

All his limbs were firmly encased in the concrete of the wall.

"Wha-"

He was interrupted again as a fork from his satchel flew into his mouth, stabbing his tongue. He howled in pain as she stepped into his personal space to look him right in the eyes.

"Shut up! You have no right to speak." His tormentor said in that ice cold voice of hers. "You like blowing things up do you? Why don't I try blowing up your head then? Give you a taste of your own medicine."

The fork between his lips began to quiver, his eyes bulging out of their sockets as fear gripped him in ways he never knew before now. He stared into her eyes, dark and empty blue… They couldn't possibly be human.

She didn't bat an eyelid as the fork exploded in a small blast that shredded his tongue and showered his face with shrapnel. He screamed through his mangled mouth, the pain too much to bear.

"She's only a Level 1 you know, but Uiharu's power can be pretty dangerous if she raised her Level. In fact, why don't I give you an example."

She placed one hand on his ruined face and his scream jumped up an octave. Her hand was burning hot, and his ruined flesh cooked as she used it to painfully cauterise his wounds. Her other hand pressed against his groin. In another situation having a pretty girl do that might have turned him on. After all, she was effectively caressing his face while pressing against his groin. She might have been only twelve, but there was no denying that she was hot!

Unfortunately, the hand on his nethers was freezing cold, so much so that he quickly began to lose feeling in his whole lower body.

"Stop thinking of me like that you twisted psycho." The Level 5 warned as she took a step back from him. "Hmm… You remind me of someone, and that gives me an idea."

A cruel smirk spread on her previously emotionless face.

"I learned this little trick from him, you might have heard of him. Number 1?" She forced her finger into his arm, his flesh parting effortlessly at her touch, and began twisting it around as she fished around for something. "Ah. There's a blood vessel." Smiling in satisfaction, she returned her attention to Hatsuya's face. "I'm going to reverse your blood flow until your heart explodes! Doesn't that sound fun?"

She was like some monster come to life as she laughed in a high pitched tone, her eyes dilated and crazy.

"Bye bye Bomber-san~!"

Resigned to the fact that he was about to die, Hatsuya closed his eyes. When he didn't die he gingerly opened his eyes to find himself encased in a fiery blue dome of energy that had separated him from his attacker. The Level 5 looked as surprised at this development as he was, her eyes wide. It didn't last though, as they narrowed and she turned to level a furious glare at a figure strolling towards them from further in the shadowy alley. "Take this down right now, [ManiForce]!"

At that moment, his small savior strolled out of the shadows with a casual air as if she had been there the entire time.

"Oi, Saten-chan. You got your shots in. Give it a rest and leave it to Anti-Skill and Judgement to sweep up."

"...He tried to hurt Uiharu, he needs to die!" She screamed, stomping her foot and causing the ground to crack.

The Number 2 just replied with a bored blink. "Oh? And what's Uiharu-chan going to think of your little crusade? Think long _and_ hard."

The Number 3's shoulders trembled, her fierce look fading into a conflicted mask.

"You're trying to stay away from _this_ side, remember? You're doing decent at scrubbing your hands so far, but you do this?" Number 2 gestured to him with a wave of her hand. "You're as much the monster as you were then. That blood stays."

Her features softened as [Multi-Skill] inhaled sharply through her teeth.

"Just stop. For Uiharu-chan's sake alright, Saten-chan?"

Saten's shoulders slumped, and turned away from him entirely. Shooting him one last glare, she teleported away.

The dome of protection went down and the Number 2 walked over to him to glare down at him.

"Just so you know, I was protecting her from herself. Not you, you piece of shit. I'd kill you, but that would be a waste of effort that could be used elsewhere." She looked over her shoulder. "Oi, Sempai. Stop skulking in the shadows."

As the recognizable figure of [Railgun] stepped into view, the bomber wanted to cry. _Now the Number 5 is here? Why? Why are so many Level 5s all together?!_

"...What the hell, Namikaze?" The [Railgun]'s voice trembled as she looked at his beaten form, her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles looked white.

"Stop being naive, Sempai." Namikaze looked right into her eyes. "Do you understand how important Uiharu-chan is to [Multi-Skill]? She's basically Saten-chan's anchor to any semblance of sanity. Anyway, our shopping date is shot so I'm going to make a move. See ya, Sempai."

With that she blinked away.

The [Railgun] stared at him long and hard, making him shake. Was she going to hit him too? Like all the other cruel power users?

Thankfully, she just turned around and stalked off with her fists at her side.

"Hm, Namikaze-san is a better friend than I thought. You should be thankful to that girl, she saved your life after all. If Saten-san had her way, well, we wouldn't be talking right now would we?"

A twin tailed girl appeared before him much like how Number 2 disappeared. "I'm placing you under arrest. You won't be seeing the real world for a long time. Judgement will see to that."

He wanted to spit at her, he wanted to curse them all, but he could only hang his head.

He should have Leveled Up more.

* * *

Kuroko stood at the site of the explosion observing as forensics technicians from Anti-Skill were busy gathering evidence from the scene. It was quite the sight, with a tightly contained cone of destruction amid the otherwise pristine mall.

 _This is pretty impressive. To be able to keep the destruction so contained like this, Saten-san's barriers must have been quite powerful. Especially considering how powerful the bomb was._

"Shirai-san."

 _Speak of the devil._ Kuroko mused in amusement as she turned to the sound of the voice only to spot the aforementioned Level 5 strolling over. With Uiharu and a little girl ahead of her, running excitedly towards her.

"Uiharu." Kuroko greeted her partner with a smile. "I'm glad you're alright, truly."

"I'm fine. And it's all thanks to Saten-san." With that she turned to the little girl. "Right?"

Together her partner and the little girl, sung out a cheerful, "Right!"

Saten shook her head. "I didn't do anything special, really."

"Saten-san, you are being far too modest. You did great today. If not for _other_ matters I would be asking you to join Judgement."

And by that, she meant her way of handling the culprit. Don't get the Level 4 wrong, she wanted to brutalize him just as much as her other friends did for what he tried to do to poor Uiharu. Thankfully, her moral code kept her from lashing out in such way.

Saten was sadly not as in control of herself as Kuroko initially thought.

"Yo! Glad you two are safe and sound." Namikaze-san smiled at Uiharu and the little girl as she walked over. "Even I got nervous at that explosion."

Kuroko eyed the blonde with a critical eye, as she re-assessed her opinion of her. She'd previously thought the other girl was an immature brat that relied on her status as a Level 5 to do whatever she wanted. Today though, Namikaze-san had actually been able to talk a nearly crazed fellow Level 5 down. Truly a powerful gift. Perhaps she had a future in negotiations? Now if only she could keep that mature front at other times too.

"You were calm as could be." Saten-san pointed out.

"...Well, fine." The blonde puffed out her cheeks. "Call my bluff. I just didn't want to say I had utter confidence in your abilities. It might go to your noggin, Saten-chan."

 _I take back everything I thought about her being mature._

"Namikaze-san must you be so grating towards Saten-san, especially today when she's the hero?"

The blonde Level 5 smiled at Kuroko, like she knew something she didn't. This must be why Onee-sama was always annoyed by the girl. It was as if she always knew some dirty little secret the rest didn't.

"Saten-chan gets easily embarrassed from being praised so much. I'm just being thoughtful for her sake."

"She's right." Saten-san nodded. "I didn't do anything special. She could have easily done something about the bomb as well."

Kuroko just exhaled through her nose. A confused Uiharu just seemed to nod along with Saten-san's words.

"I don't care what you Onee-chans think!" The little girl shouted, adding in her two cents. " _I_ think Saten-oneechan is _my_ hero."

With that the girl wrapped Saten-san in a tight hug. The usually emotionless Level 5 was startled by the sudden hug but recovered quickly and returned it while patting the girl's head lightly.

 _That's surprisingly maternal of her._ The teleporter thought to herself as she blinked in surprise.

"Daw." Onee-sama said with a smile as she walked over.

Despite her surprise, Kuroko couldn't help but agree. Seeing Saten-san being so expressive was heartwarming. A sentiment that was shared by the others in their little group too if the smiles on their faces were anything to go by.

"Okay, I need a picture of this. It's too cute." Namikaze-san said, pulling out her phone to take some pictures.

 _And Namikaze-san just has to go spoil the moment._

* * *

That night as Saten sat in the modified Testament machine and performed maintenance on the network, the Level 5 pondered the day's events.

 _Today was a close call. If things were just a little bit different, Uiharu might have been killed._

Ruiko knew that the experiment was necessary. To help her family, she had to set aside her morals and follow through with the plan.

Still, doubt crept into her mind. Uiharu was nearly killed today because of Level Upper.

Yes, she and her Kaa-san only put it out there for people to use and weren't responsible for how people used it. But, if any others were like that bomber idiot, how many more people could be harmed? She didn't want to hurt people anymore, but it seemed to be the only thing she was good at.

"The progress with the calculations have slowed lately." Kaa-san commented as she looked up from a computer monitor.

"They are proving more intensive than we originally thought. Even with the unexpectedly high number of nodes we have in the network, it's still not enough." Ruiko explained in a detached way, the majority of her focus on carrying out the various maintenance checks and updates/repairs to the network while another significant chunk was distracted by her worries.

"Is there a workaround?" Kaa-san asked with a concerned frown. "We can't let this take too long. The longer we take, the more likely the authorities will intervene."

Their little experiment was unauthorised after all and if they didn't finish it soon, the authorities might step in and put a stop to it before they could finish what they needed.

"We could increase the load we put on the individual nodes." Ruiko hesitantly suggested.

Kaa-san pondered this for a moment before giving an equally hesitant nod.

"That might work. However, doing so might take up too much computational power from the nodes and leave them in comas."

"Yes, but it's the only way to keep things on schedule."

 _Really though, I just want this over as soon as possible. That way there'll be less of a chance for a repeat of the Graviton bombing incident._

"I suppose so." Kaa-san agreed with a sigh.

"Then we're agreed?"

"Yes."

 _I hope we're doing the right thing._

* * *

 **Ba-ba-ba-boom! Chapter three rolled in and is here to stay! Soon my readers, the climax of the Level Upper arc will leave you in shock and awe! Thanks to the writing team once again. Be sure to welcome our new Beta Itherael! Yay! We still have Axios, but he covers the PJO side of things.**

 **Now to start, Flashbacks...Flackbacks for days! Sorry for that, but we needed to establish a lot of stuff between Saten and Uiharu. They never really said how they met after all, so we played it to our own tastes.**

 **Uiharu is easily distracted huh? We wanted her to compare the Level 5s somewhat and categorize them. Hope the analogies were good enough. I personally liked Naru's angel/devil motif.**

 **Nameless: It's also a bit of a parody of these kind of situations that's so very common in anime. You know, where the characters suddenly end up going on info-dump flashbacks and internal monologues. Well, this time we had Kuroko play the part of the serious person in the situation and point out how absurd the situation could be if someone kept getting distracted.**

 **And yes, Naru used the Talk no Jutsu on Saten. That scary broken power lives! She may not be the Knucklehead, but she's got her charm points on her. As Kuroko noted...and washed away a second later. That's just how Naru is, a great person one second, a whiny Ojou-sama the next. Don't ya just love her?**

 **Nameless: Hope you all enjoyed Saten losing her cool on Kaitabi. It was incredibly brutal, she shattered his jaw and castrated him (though this was implied rather than shown). But take into account how Naru describes her relationship to Uiharu and you get an idea of why this might be justified. In fact, taking that into consideration I think we might have let him off easy.**

 **Don't forget the burning face dude, scary~! We tried not to make it torture porn, hope we didn't fail on that front.**

 **Now, smash that review button in the face and tell me what ya loved! Naru's teasing (a personal fav), Saten going cuckoo, or Uiharu's daydreaming? Now no flames and peace off my peeps!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Four: Angels With A Shotgun**

 **Beta: Itherael**

* * *

It was late in the evening and the 177th Judgement Branch was almost entirely empty. Its only current occupant was Konori Mii, the Chief of the branch. She was seated in front of her computer and engaged in a video conference.

"I'm glad that the Graviton Bomber has been caught." Said Yomikawa Aiho, a tall woman with long hair tied into a ponytail, who had glamorous proportions accentuated by the green jersey she wore, her large bust being hugged by it rather tightly. She was a senior member of Anti-Skill, Academy City's police equivalent, and the 177th Branch's contact in the organisation.

"Good job by the way." She complimented, "Your branch solved most of the case and was instrumental in arranging for the bomber to be caught even."

"You're being too generous, Yomikawa-sensei." Konori demurred. "Most of the credit should go to Saten-san."

"I guess..." Yomikawa said as she shifted uncomfortably. "Though I don't think she deserves that much praise. After all, her approach to dealing with the bomb wasn't exactly the best. She had other, possibly better, options after all. Like teleporting the bomb away."

"I wouldn't be too worried about it." Konori said reassuringly. "According to my kouhai, Uiharu-san, who happens to be Saten-san's best friend, she only resorted to relying on barriers because she was stressed and just did what first came to mind."

"That might explain how she reacted to the bomb, but what about what she did to the bomber..." The Anti-Skill officer accused. "She sent him to the hospital. If she wasn't a Level 5-"

The older woman trailed off, a moment of silence passing as both women pondered the privileged treatment that Level 5s enjoyed, even in the eyes of the law.

"I understand." Konori interjected, "However, Saten-san was most definitely not at her best during the situation. The life of Uiharu-san, her _best friend_ , was being threatened by the Bomber. It was only natural for her to overreact."

"People don't have to undergo reconstructive surgery when most people overreact." Yomikawa countered.

Konori winced, even as the other woman continued.

"They don't scare other people so badly by their presence alone that they completely lose the will to fight either."

"Well, from what I've heard, Saten-san can be very scary when she wants to be."

"I've heard much the same." Yomikawa said with a nod. "Let's just hope we never have to be on the receiving end of that." With a shake of her head, as if clearing her previous thoughts from her mind, the woman changed the topic. "Let's get back to business."

Konori nodded. She didn't want to ponder the prospects of facing off against Number 3 either. Besides, it was never going to happen, not with how close she and Uiharu were.

"So any clues as to why espers like Kaitabi Hatsuya have been exhibiting powers above their Levels lately? He's only one of dozens that we know of."

"We might have something actually." Konori informed her Anti-Skill counterpart. "A group of my members followed up a lead and organised some sort of undercover operation. We discovered that it's due to something called Level Upper."

Yomikawa nodded. "We've heard the same from other sources. We don't have a clue about what it is though. What about you?"

"Unfortunately, thanks to some _complications_..." Konori shifted nervously, "...during our undercover operation we failed to find out either."

Yomikawa eyed the younger woman shrewdly as she squirmed. "Those _complications_ wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the recent blackouts, would it?"

"Of course not." Konori said as calmly as possible, even as she began to sweat a little. She knew full well, thanks to Shirai-san's informal report, that the blackouts were due to the [Railgun]'s overenthusiasm as she helped her roommate pursue the suspects, leading her to badly damage one of the City's major electrical substations. "Why would you think that?"

"No reason." Yomikawa shot back airily. "Just that the Shirai girl at your Branch is friends with [Railgun] isn't she? You think there's a connection?"

"Yes she is, though I don't see any connection."

Yomikawa eyed the stiff Konori like a hawk for a long moment, but when the younger woman did not do more than occasionally nervously fidget, she just sighed.

"Whatever you say."

Konori wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but she knew she wasn't exactly out of the woods yet.

 _Misaka-san owes me big time for this. Covering for her like this is more troublesome than I would've thought._

"Does Anti-Skill know something about the blackouts that they need to check with Judgement?" Thes bespectacled girl inquired.

"No, just checking a personal hunch."

"...Right."

"Back on topic," The busty woman cleared her throat. "So you don't know anything more about this Level Upper?"

"Unfortunately not."

"I see-" Whatever Yomikawa was about to say was cut off as a alarm went off around her. "Gotta go. It's an emergency. Inform us if you get any new intel. Take care."

Without allowing Konori a single word in edgewise, Yomikawa ended the call.

Finally heaving the sigh of relief she'd been holding back for a while, Konori couldn't help but ponder whether this latest emergency had anything to do with Level Upper. _The last few cases all seemed to. I hope this trend doesn't continue, or things might start getting out of hand soon._

* * *

At a particular hospital in District 7, Kazari and Shirai-san were waiting for an appointment with the hospital's director to discuss the comas that Level Upper users were falling into. They had arrived early, yet thankfully, didn't have to wait long before the doctor they had an appointment with guided the two Judgement members to his office.

He was bald-headed, with his remaining hair having already turned grey. He was dressed in a stereotypical doctor's outfit with a labcoat over a plain shirt and pants. What really stood out about him though was the fact that his appearance bore a great resemblance to that of a frog.

"So you two are here to talk about the Level Upper case?" The doctor said as they walked down a corridor towards his office.

"Yes, we were hoping that you would be able to offer us some insight about our current case. We are investigating why Level Upper users have been falling into comas." Shirai-san explained as they entered the doctor's office.

"Then I suppose you are in luck. I was just about to contact Anti-Skill with my findings, but I suppose I can inform Judgement first. I think that I've just made a breakthrough in figuring out why this is happening."

"You have?" Kazari asks enthusiastically. Even Shirai-san gained an excited gleam to her otherwise composed visage.

"Indeed. Take a look at these brainscan patterns from the Level Upper victims. Brainwaves vary according to each person, so there's no way that any two persons should have the same waveform." The frog faced doctor told them as he typed on his computer to show them the victims' brainwaves, all of which despite reason were identical. "However, I noticed that each of the Level Upper victims had a common brainwave pattern."

"What does that mean?" Shirai-san asked.

"It means that there is someone that is forcing their brains to work with this brainwave pattern, and it is exerting a tremendous influence on the body." The doctor elaborated.

"So Level Upper is forcibly tampering with with their brains, leaving them in vegetative states?"

"Yes. But maintaining this pattern should be impossible. The body should resist the change and naturally reset the brainwaves of people back into their usual patterns. So-"

"Something must be actively maintaining the change?"

"Yes, with the same brainwave patterns programmed into them, we can say the victims are linking up into a network. Probably using the AIM diffusion fields, the force that all the victims as espers are emitting as a carrier signal. With such a network, it is possible for someone to maintain the change to the brainwaves."

"For what reason would someone do this?" Shirai-san fretted. "This seems to be too much of an indirect method of attack towards any targeted person or even against the public as a whole."

"Hmm." Kazari mused, an idea forming in her mind. "This network, it would in similar to a computer network, right?"

"The human brain, especially an esper's, are essentially biological computers so yes." The doctor affirmed with a nod.

Taking confidence from the doctor's statement, Kazari continued offering her idea. "Well, if that's the case, then linking so many computers, or victims in this case, will lead to boosts in the processing ability available to the individual and the network as a whole. This is what is allowing the users to boost their abilities beyond their recorded Levels."

"But even if our brains are likened to computers, we all think differently, like how computers might use different brands of OSes. What's the point of linking them all together?" Shirai-san asked, clearly still confused by where Uiharu was going.

"Yes, the computers on the network have different OSes, and they use different languages as well. But the reason networks can be created are because of protocols."

"So the common brainwave pattern is acting as the protocols?"

"Yes." The resident computer expert said triumphantly as her idea crystallized.

"There are at least 10,000 victims already… That's an enormous amount of computing power." Shirai-san gulped, as the enormity of the situation hit her.

Kazari nodded gravely, as she realized the same. "That's probably why even if someone with a weak ability connects to the network, the network is able to provide them with a significant boost to their ability. Add in a collective of the same type of esper - which considering their individual count, must already exist - things would be far more efficient and the boost even more dramatic. But I think the power boosts are just a side effect-"

"You think the real goal is the computing power?" Shirai-san finished for her partner.

Uiharu nodded nervously. _Though that begs the question, why would anyone need to resort to something like this to acquire so much computing power? I mean, why not just apply to use the Tree Diagram?_

"As fascinating as this deductive reasoning is, I still have more to share." The doctor cut in, reminding the two Judgement members of his presence .

"Sorry!" Both girls said with apologetic bows as they returned their attention to the office's owner.

Having regained his guests' attention, the doctor looked at his monitor with a contemplative look.

"I believe all the Level Upper victims share the same brainwave pattern of one Esper I know."

"What?" Shirai-san exclaimed. Kazari shared her shock as they'd finally be able to identify the mastermind behind all the trouble with Level Upper. "Who?"

"The Number 3, [Multi-Skill], Saten Ruiko."

Silence filled the room as confusion struck the Level 1 like a tidal wave.

Shirai-san reached out, roughly grabbing the doctor's lapel. "Is that true? Are you certain?!"

The doctor look unfazed at the treatment of his lab coat, nor upset by her threatening tone.

"Yes. It's rather obvious if one considers it. She is _the_ AIM Master of Academy City. Who better to manage a network which uses the field as its carrier signal?"

"NO!" Kazari shouted, her confusion dominating her mind as she tried to compute this revelation. "You're wrong, Saten-san would never-! She wouldn't!"

In a bid to prove the doctor wrong, she whipped out her cellphone and speed-dialed her friend. Placing it to her ear, she heard it ring once.

 _Saten-san would never do this, she would never hurt all these people... there's no way that she would do something like that._

It rang a second time.

 _Saten-san wouldn't put people in danger like this, it-it couldn't be right._

Just as the third ring started, there was a click.

" _Hello, Uiharu."_

At hearing her friend's voice, hope swelled in Kazari's heart. Clenching the device tightly with both hands she asked. "Saten-san, please, tell me you're not involved with Level Upper."

The line was silent for a moment, and the Level 1's heart beat against her ribcage agonizingly as she waited for a reply.

" _So you know."_ Came the reply that tore through her heart.

The flower wearing girl's eyes widened as her body began to shake. "I don't know anything! Please, just tell me you're not involved! Please, Saten-san!"

" _I can't do that."_

The Judgement member's legs felt weak as she collapsed to her knees, tears streaming from her honey brown eyes.

"Please." She pleaded in a whisper.

" _I'm sorry, but I have to do this. For my family."_

There was another click and the call ended.

Kazari could only shake as she wept right there in the office, Shirai-san by her side in a second, holding her.

* * *

It all started with a phone call from a crying Uiharu.

Imagine Naru's surprise that Uiharu had been reduced to tears because of something Saten did.

Level Upper, Saten was the one responsible for it apparently. She was the one putting people into comas.

She never thought her fellow Level 5 would hurt her friend in such a way. Angry, not entirely sure why honestly, the blonde decided she needed to go and drag Saten out from wherever she'd holed up to apologize to Uiharu.

So she made a call or two and found out where Saten and her parental partner in crime were. It wasn't even difficult. They weren't hiding. Not from the Dark Side at least.

They had apparently set up shop in a supposedly abandoned lab complex in District 19.

At seeing it, Naru felt her irritation grow once more. Clicking her tongue in annoyance, she marched towards the building. With but a thought, she summoned her chakra to enhance her strength and pushed against the lab's back door.

With a loud bang, the double doors of the lab's entrance exploded off their hinges, dust flying everywhere. Naru took in a deep breath and walked on in, her hands in her skirt pockets.

Lo and behold, standing in the empty warehouse-esque loading and unloading area, was Saten. She was just standing there and waiting for her, a stoic visage on her face.

 _What a familiar sight._ The blonde mused. Deciding to shoot the breeze as the dust started to settle, Naru greeted her classmate. "How're things going for you, Saten-chan?"

"...Rather well at the moment, until you walked in." The other girl replied in a monotonous voice, more so than she'd heard from her in weeks. Not since they started hanging out.

Naru cocked her head to the side. "Really? I would have thought you would be in tears, since that's how Uiharu-chan is right now. You really hurt her, you know? Shame on you."

Her lips quirked at seeing Saten's shoulders stiffen and her frame go still.

[The Robot] could be as emotionless as she wanted, but even a robot had buttons.

And the Number 2 just knew how to press them.

"I know I did… But as I told her, I have to do this. For my siblings. They're counting on me."

Her cerulean eyes narrowed and she scoffed. "Bullshit."

The taller girl's hands balled into fists, a rare show of emotion from her. A clear sign of how truly angry she was.

"What?"

"I said bullshit." Naru drawled out in a bored tone. "You had a good thing going on and you just went and decided to fuck it up."

 _If a friendship like that could break… What's the point of me even bothering with these guys._

It was a rare sight, to see two of Academy City's heavyweights stare each other down and get ready to rumble.

"So…" Naru started, glancing around. "Should we make some rules or do you just want to level a good part of the city?" She asked the Number 3.

"Yes." Saten agreed. "I don't think your _boss_ would like that."

"Nothing that will bring the building down?"

"Sounds fair. Think you can keep that promise?"

Naru shrugged with her hands in the air, a smile on her face.

Taking that as a signal to start the fight, Saten conjured three little green orbs around her that spat out laser beams. In a display of her great flexibility, Naru dodged nimbly and casually landed back on her feet, not even winded.

"Those were that haughty bitch [Meltdowner]'s lasers." Naru observed, impressed despite herself. "Are there any powers that you don't have?"

"Outside of those of gemstones like you? No."

Naru couldn't tell whether that was a boast or not, but still bared a toothy smile. "Heh, gotta say this is the most excitement I've had for some time. You've been out of the game for a while, [Multi-Skill]. I'm not some piss bucket that's going to sit there as you brutalize them. Hope you haven't gotten too rusty to handle an _actual_ opponent."

She disappeared in a blink, appearing behind Saten, and channeled her chakra into her leg, lashing out with an axe kick.

The large amount of chakra she had poured into her kick was released as her heel struck a domed barrier. The clash between her powerful attack and Saten's own powerful defense created a shockwave that tore at the air, sending equipment around them flying. Massive cracks danced along the translucent protective dome. She didn't stop to admire her work though, instead teleporting back to her point of origin to avoid a shockwave of energy that was Saten's counterattack.

"Hm, looks like it's not going to be a quick K.O. Oh!" She smiled brightly at the dark haired girl. "Looks like Saten-chan's finally got a sense of fun! We want this to last for a bit right?"

"A battle isn't my idea of fun." Saten said with a frown, even as she created a black hole of some sort next to Naru.

Unfazed, the Number 2 teleported away and continued with her taunts. "Well don't smile all at once. Haven't you heard it's easier to smile than frown?"

"Do you ever stop talking?"

"I like my banter when I can get it. By the way," Naru asked as she caught her breath for a minute. "You never did care for Uiharu-chan, did you?"

Saten's only reply was a massive barrage of beams. There were so many of them and in so many varieties that Naru didn't even bother to keep track.

 _What is this? Gundam?_

She blinked out of the way, reappearing on the ceiling. Using her chakra, she stuck on to the abused roof that had been filled with holes from Saten's furious attack. Hanging upside down, she was forced to use her chakra to stick her skirt to her thighs too, gravity can be such a pain at times.

It was annoying to do it, it was such a waste of chakra.

That said, while Naru wasn't afraid to show off, she wasn't exactly an exhibitionist, so she wasn't about to flash her mature panties at Saten.

 _I'm not Shutaura after all._

She continued to dance out of the way of the energy volley as it pierced through the building's roof.

"Oh? Hit a nerve? Look at that! Saten-chwan getting touchy feely. So cute~!" She teased with a babyish voice that only seemed to make the barrage increase in volume.

"But you know it's true. After all, if you did, you would have disrupted the Graviton Bomber's AIM field. But you couldn't do that, could you? It might have outed your little network and you just couldn't risk that, right?"

Naru accused as she teleported into one of Saten's blind spots and launched a large fireball back at Saten, who simply tanked the shot with a wall of ice that sublimated directly into steam.

[Maniforce] was not deterred however, dodging Saten's counterattack - another furious energy slavo - she continued with her accusations, blinking from place to place. "Back then even when Uiharu's life was in danger, you chose to protect your precious network over the best chance at keeping her safe. That's positive proof that you don't really care for her. Shameless!"

Since the start, Naru had noticed something. Saten was behaving somewhat sluggish, not heavily mind you, just like she was going 0.2 seconds slower or something. But still plenty noticeable.

At least to [Maniforce] it seemed that way.

 _Is it because of the stress from maintaining the Level Upper network? But is that enough of an explanation? Hmm… Maybe she's feeling upset for what happened to Uiharu after all._

Naru smirked as she thought about it.

 _Oi, Fuzzy Butt. Give me a emotion scan here._

 _ **What are you doing?**_

 _Duh. Fighting a Level 5. Can't you see?_

That seemed to have perked the fox right up.

 _ **Wake me up sooner!**_ He sounded hungry for blood. _**Which one is it? Laser Bitch? That Crazy Headband Guy?**_

 _Scan, now._

 _ **Fine fine, just tell-Oh! Really? Robot Girl?**_

 _Yep, she's been a naughty girl and needs a harsh spanking._

 _ **You seriously watch too much of that gar-Ouch! That hurt like a bitch!**_

At his whining, Naru frowned mentally as she ducked under another laser and threw back a blade of wind which was blocked by one of her opponent's forcefields.

 _What?_

 _ **So many different emotions all at once. It was like being exposed to some kind of crazy kaleidoscope. It was painful just reading it.**_

 _Must be the effect of Level Upper._

 _ **Level What?**_

 _Nothing important. I'm going to take some of your chakra, we're going Panzer._

Saten wasn't exactly just going to leave Naru alone to have a conversation with her tenant though. She had kept up the pressure with her attacks, this time switching over to trying to skewer Naru with conjured spears of Dark Matter. Naru however countered with her own construct.

In a blaze of blue, a wakizashi of solid chakra formed. Expertly wielding the blade, she proceeded to use it to cut the spears down at blinding speeds.

As the last of the spears shattered, she dismissed the blade as a new construct settled around her body. One which was a far more useful weapon than her sword.

It was a suit of armor, a hulking behemoth of twelve feet, colored in a demonic crimson. Thick armor covered each limb, giving her a much bulkier appearance. The added weight made each step she took leave craters in the ground as Naru lumbered towards Saten. The armor's helm was a domed affair completed with an image of a vaguely human face.

This was her Panzer Demon Frame. A special construct she created from her tenant's chakra that enhanced her abilities, giving her a boost to strength and defence.

She was a walking tank now.

"So you're pulling out one of your trump cards?" Saten commented, otherwise unaffected by her opponent upping the ante.

" **Why not? I'm just getting all excited about this fight."** Naru replied happily, her voice sounding gravelly.

Saten just shrugged, seemingly unimpressed. Her response to this was to build even more barriers, layering them together to create a veritable fortress.

Raising her bulky armored fists, Naru punched the barriers with a shockwave of force, shattering more than a dozen layers of them like glass. Before she could land another blow, Saten launched a telekinetic attack, yet it failed to do more than make Naru stumble a little. It threw her second punch off slightly, but not much else.

The blonde just retaliated with a third strike, and a fourth, then a fifth. Each building up in speed as the structure around them started to shake at the power being released.

The blows rained on Saten's defenses unrelentingly and [Multi-Skill] seemed barely able to keep up. Giving up any attempt to counterattack, she focused on repairing her barriers in anticipation of the next blow.

As Naru's latest punch struck against Saten's barrier, she felt herself suddenly get caught by a powerful force.

" **Aw crud."** Naru complained as despite her bulky armor, she was sent flying across the large room, skipping across the ground thrice before she crashed through one of the outer walls.

Laying there, Naru blinked and groaned as her armor creaked. **"She did not just go Accelerator on me. Man, what a baby to go and rely on the albino's power."**

Just then she noticed the edges of her armor was uneven with chakra escaping in red wisps, as if something was pulling it away.

" **You can't mess with my AIM, so you're using vector control to mess with my powers?"**

"It's my favored tactic." Saten admitted without pretense as she teleported nearby.

" **And since you can't do it yourself as I'm way too alien for you, you gotta use something else to do it."** Naru's armor groaned as she forced herself to stand. **"Not doing much though."**

"Well maybe if you were more normal..."

Naru snorted as she did a mental check on her armor. **"Normal's overrated."**

Well, her armor was fine. Normally Naru wouldn't care since she could still end most things she was fighting in this Frame even if it was a little damaged. Against Saten though it wasn't really ideal.

 _It's time to kick this up a notch. Kurama, we're going to use Festung and blow her little lab to dust._

 _ **Heh... I love this side of you.**_

Her armor crumbled and Naru re-absorbed the energy back into her body. Landing on her feet, the blonde looked at Saten with a frown. "So we continuing or are you going to stop this dumb plan of yours?"

"Dumb? Yes, I agree that this plan is not the best." Saten said, sounding pained. "You think we want to do this? Of course not. We simply have no choice! If we want to save our family, this is our only choice." As she spoke, her tone raised noticeably. "An orphan like you wouldn't understand!"

Saten's anger was palpable. It burned in her eyes and her arms trembled from the force of it.

Naru wouldn't say it out loud, but what Saten had just said had actually stung.

Sure, the blonde never had a family. How could she? ...Naru was an alien here. No one had a power anything like hers and the girl had been forced to struggle just to understand what that was.

Parental love? Foreign.

Family bonds? Unknown.

Friendship? Still a work in progress.

"...So what if I don't." Naru mustered out, glaring chilling daggers at Saten. "I might not know what it's like to lose everything, but at least you were lucky to have them to begin with. You didn't start alone. So get off your self-righteous horse! You're no better than a Kihara!"

Saten visibly flinched at that, taking a step back at her words. However, she quickly recovered and glared right back.

The two Level 5s glared at each other in a way that was not too different from a Mexican standoff in a movie. Both begun calling on their power, preparing for the next round of their battle. While Naru begun shaping Kurama's chakra into her Festung Frame, Saten strengthened her barriers while also gathering a strange energy in a tightly compact sphere of deadly power right next to her.

"I think this is far enough." A lackadaisical voice called out, interrupting the fight before the two could go at it again.

"Kaa-san."

"Kiyama."

Stepping between the two mighty espers, seemingly without a care in the world, Kiyama Harumi shot her daughter a stern look. "Ruiko, stand down." The black haired Level 5 hesitated for a moment but eventually did as she was told and pulled down her barriers, also dismissing her energy orb.

When she was satisfied that her command was followed, Kiyama turned to Naru.

"You as well, Namikaze-san."

"And what gives you the authority to give me orders?" Naru asked, eyes narrowed.

"Nothing. I am merely passing on the message."

Naru was about to rebut, only to be preempted by her phone ringing.

"You should answer that." Kiyama suggested with a smug grin. "It's your superior."

Pulling her phone out, Naru saw that Kiyama was right. Her Caller ID clearly indicated that the call was from Aleister Crowley himself. "What?"

" _Let Level Upper proceed."_

At the sound of his order, the blond grit her teeth. "...Fine."

They both hung up.

Naru sent a disgruntled look to the two in front of her and dismissed the beginnings of her Festung Frame and re-absorbed the chakra. Once the last of her chakra had been recovered, she turned to walk away.

She didn't leave without a parting jab however.

"When you fail, Saten-chan, don't cry too much!" The Number 2 waved her hand. "I'll try not to laugh when you do."

* * *

"I cannot believe she would do this" Mikoto murmured in shock as she met up with Kuroko and Uiharu-san after their visit to the hospital. They were holed up in her and Kuroko's dorm room for some privacy.

Uiharu-san had a mile long stare in her puffy red eyes, her soaked handkerchief clutched tightly in her hands.

"Saten-san and Kiyama-sensei have disappeared as well. Judgement and Anti-Skill have detainment orders out on them."

 _And what good can they do against a Level 5?_ Mikoto realized the sad reality that the policing forces of Academy City were up against the final boss in a RPG while they were still on the first level.

"Kiyama-sensei did this." Uiharu-san muttered. "She put Saten-san up to this, she had to have done so."

"Don't get your hopes up, Uiharu-chan." Namikaze said as she teleported into the room. Her hair was covered in dust and frazzled, her uniform had a few rips here and there along with the occasional scorch mark, and her skirt had a slit up the side.

"What the hell happened to you?" Mikoto asked, seeing her kohai in such a state.

"I got into a little scuffle with Saten-chan."

 _Scuffle? You look like you came off a battlefield!_

"You know where she is?!" Uiharu-san looked at the blonde in surprise.

"Why didn't you inform Judgement or Anti-Skill?" Kuroko narrowed her eyes.

"Listen, you have to hurry up and stop Saten-chan. They're in this lab in District 19. It's the one with the roof full of holes. You can thank Saten-chan for that by the way. Go get her before she moves." Namikaze said, the unsaid 'chop chop' was clearly heard.

Uiharu-san got to her feet immediately, a determined gleam in her eyes even as she rubbed one. "Let's go."

Kuroko nodded and went to her closet, pulling out a long duffle bag and grabbed her nail hostlers. "Setting up."

Mikoto pushed off her bed and looked down at the Usagi. "You coming?"

She offered a weak smile. "Sorry, I've got orders to not interfere. Just telling you guys was already stretching my autonomy."

All the girls looked curious, and uneasy, at who could give the free-spirited Number 2 orders.

Mikoto pushed that thought aside for another time and placed a hand on Namikaze's head, making her whine as she ruffled the younger girl's hair.

"Thanks for going this far for us, you're a good friend."

The small girl looked up at her with a confused tilt of her head, but quickly looked to the side. "Whatever. Just don't be a meathead and fight her head on, this is a mind game more than anything now."

Mikoto rolled her eyes at that. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind."

The Chibi rolled her eyes in return. "I'm going to take a nap or something, let me know how things end up."

[Maniforce] teleported out of the room, leaving the girls to prepare.

"A nap she says, we're about to do all the heavy lifting and she's going to sleep." Kuroko complained with a disgruntled look on her face as she finished securing her holsters to her thighs and hoisted the duffle bag on her shoulder.

"She just fought Saten-san, give her a break." Uiharu-san said. "Maybe she's hurt? We have to hurry."

Mikoto honestly couldn't be sure who Uiharu was referring to. Namikaze? Saten? Both?

It didn't matter though. Not right now.

"Right." Mikoto nodded sternly and fiddled with an arcade token in her hand. "Let's go."

"Hai, Onee-sama."

"Ready to go!"

With that, the trio set off to confront their wayward friend. _We're on our way Saten-san, we'll have you back on the straight and narrow soon enough._

* * *

Huddled behind a pile of old fencing, the three friends observed the lab they were informed about. Said lab indeed had several dozen holes in the roof, like Namikaze said it would, though she'd neglected to mention that the doors were also missing and it was sporting a gaping hole on one side of the building.

Half a dozen powered suits seemed to be performing a patrol of the lab's perimeter. They were large, bulky and intimidating things that looked like a slightly thicker Western suit of armor. They had cylindrical helmets almost fifty centimeters wide. Somewhat humanoid in appearance, the suits had two arms and legs and five fingers on both hands. Their look was completed by a container affixed on their back, appearing like a backpack, which was probably used as a automatic reloader for the shotgun the machine was equipped with.

Thankfully they were unmanned. It would have been troublesome if Saten-san and Kiyama-sensei had hired thugs as guards. It would have complicated things a great deal.

Uiharu was hurriedly typing on her tablet, while shooting the lab occasional quick glances. "If the suits weren't obvious enough, there is definitely something going on in there. The power is on in the building for one, even though it's listed as abandoned. But if they are her it's not on the first floor, from the blueprints I have, it's just storage space. Saten-san and Kiyama-sensei are probably working from the sublevels, it was where the main labs were when this place was up and running."

"Because of course that's where they would be." Onee-sama shook her head. "I feel like I'm in an RPG here."

Uiharu shot her a surprisingly stern glare. "This isn't a game, Misaka-san!"

"I know, I know, just saying." The Level 5 sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck.

Kuroko sighed and stood up. "Uiharu, Onee-sama and I will dispose of the power suits. You start hacking into the lab's network."

"Roger!"

Kuroko could see her Onee-sama smiling, no doubt ready for a rumble. Oh why must she be so violent? Still, that was the type of attitude they needed right now. So the teleporter could lament over this later.

She opened her duffle bag and pulled out three javelins and held them tightly in one hand, she placed the other on Onee-sama's shoulder. "Get ready."

The Electromaster tensed.

"Three, two, one."

The two teleported right above three of the power suits.

"Onee-sama!" Kuroko exclaimed.

"On it!" She returned as she held an arm back and flung a lightning bolt at one of the suits, blowing it up.

Kuroko teleported two of her javelins right into the processing units of a pair of the remaining suits, the steel polearms jutting out of the helmets. With her targets dealt with, Kuroko teleported to her Onee-sama as they fell towards the earth and teleported them to a safe landing.

The last three whirled around towards them as Onee-sama pulled out a coin.

Without so much as a word, she flicked the coin and launched her signature railgun, obliterating them all.

"Onee-sama, we're trying to be stealthy here." Kuroko complained, rubbing her ears as they rung from the blast.

"Sorry." The chestnut haired girl laughed awkwardly.

Uiharu ran towards them, the teleporter's duffle bag on her back. Though she quickly dropped it by Kuroko's feet.

"Here." She said and returned her focus to infiltrating the lab's network.

" _Welcome everyone."_

They froze at hearing Saten-san's monotone voice over the PA system.

"Saten-san!" Uiharu shouted out.

" _Namikaze-san talks too much."_

"Yeah…" Onee-sama agreed.

"Pretty much." Kuroko nodded.

"But it's good she did!" Uiharu frowned. "At least this time..."

" _Even if I ask nicely, you won't leave, correct?"_

"Stop trying to chase us away! Let us help you, Saten-san!" Uiharu shouted back.

Kuroko was starting to worry over Uiharu's mental state due to this affair. Perhaps it would have been better if she had stayed behind.

Still, with how stubborn the girl was, she doubted her partner would have heeded the advice. After all, it was largely due to her insistence that they hadn't contacted Anti-Skill or even their Judgement superiors. All so they could settle the matter without getting Saten-san into trouble with the authorities.

Saten-san sighed over the PA system. _"Fine, but I tried to warn you."_

"What a cliche bad guy line." Onee-sama muttered in annoyance as they all started to head on in. They saw that the first floor was a wreck with holes, burns, and slash marks scarring the whole area.

"There's a elevator at the far side." Uiharu informed them after a glance at the blueprints on her tablet.

"Great." The Level 5 on their side sarcastically noted. "Any stairs? Not a fan of elevator music."

" _There's a set next to the elevator."_

"It's boobytrapped isn't it?" Kuroko said with a sigh.

"Big time." Onee-sama nodded sagely. "And you said those times at the arcade were a waste of money."

"Let's put your addiction aside for now, Onee-sama."

"Addication?!"

"Shirai-san! Misaka-san! Focus!" Uiharu snapped.

"Sorry."

"Let's head for the stairs." Uiharu glared at them and the group walked forward.

The stairs looked rather normal, but none of the group was convinced by the facade. Exchanging determined looks, the trio started to climb down, Onee-sama in the lead. She sent out arcs of electricity ahead of them, disarming, and in some cases, even detonating a series of well hidden traps. Carefully concealed tasers, net traps and even a set of guns loaded with tranquilizer darts that had been carefully hidden inside a wall.

Halfway to a landing to the next floor, a sharp eyed Uiharu spotted their next obstacle. "Turrets!"

The Level 5 released a streaming wave of electricity from her digits towards the rotating turrets mounted to the wall. These were shielded against that though, seemingly encased in thick insulating plastic domes.

"Kuroko!"

"Hai!" The teleporter said and touched her nails. They disappeared and the turrets suddenly stopped swiveling and shorted out.

Saten-san grumbled over the PA. " _Those were expensive you know."_

"And so is getting all those people stuck in the hospital." Kuroko shot back.

" _I suppose so."_ Saten-san replied sounding almost guilty. " _But that's a small price to pay for what I'm trying to achieve."_

"And what is that, exactly?" Onee-sama demanded.

There was no reply, at least not verbally. Instead, Kuroko was suddenly assaulted by a vision.

Her vision suddenly blanked out and was replaced by a frozen image of a bloody scene. All around her were dozens of bodies, all bleeding from what looked like knife wounds. Some were more unfortunate and had somehow been reduced to unrecognizable masses of flesh.

Kuroko herself felt like she was choking even as she was pinned down somehow. Turning to see what was holding her down, she saw she was being held down by a man and a woman. The sight of which sent a stab of sorrow deep into her heart.

 _My parents. They died shielding me._

Her sadness grew when she saw the body of a little boy that had his arm cut off.

 _My brother._ _An innocent that died just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time._

"-ko! Kuroko!" Onee-sama shouted, shaking the petite girl's shoulder. "You okay?"

Drawn back to reality by her Onee-sama, her vision cleared. Still a little disoriented, the teleporter shook her head. "I think I was attacked mentally."

"S-Same here." Uiharu gulped, her hands trembling. "I think we saw one of Saten-san's memories."

 _That's how it all started for me._ A childish version of Saten-san's voice whispered into her mind.

"You saw her memories?" Onee-sama hissed quietly.

"But how?" Kuroko blinked a few times, it felt like there was some kind of ocular aftertaste in her eyes.

As they proceeded to continue further into the bowels of the building, the Level 5 furrowed her brow. "We're at the center of the Level Upper Network, right? That means we're basically inside a massive AIM field so maybe that's how it's affecting you guys."

"Can it do something like that?" Uiharu quietly asked as she fiddled with her tablet.

Onee-sama shrugged. "I dunno, I'm just tossing out a theory here."

Kuroko was about to inquire more but before she could open her mouth, an emotion literally struck her core.

Loneliness, cold and terrible loneliness.

At the same time, a unfamiliar disembodied voice echoed through her mind.

"Hey! You're a just lousy Level Zero! We might all be Child Errors but you're worst than that, you're nothing."

Kuroko felt crushed at the word zero. She had worked hard! She'd tried! Stop it! Stop making fun of her!

Tears pooled in her eyes, while next to her Uiharu looked ready to break down as they made it down another level. Pass a landing with no door.

"Oi! Saten!" Onee-sama shouted, glaring all around them. "Stop it! You're making them see these memories on purpose, aren't you? We get that you've got some problems, but you can't just use them to justify this!"

There was no response. It seemed Saten-san was ignoring them.

"Let's just continue." Kuroko pointed to the opening at the foot of the stairs.

A small series of metallic panels converged at the frame, linking together in a tight weave to create a vault-like exterior.

"...A door." Onee-sama's eye twitched. "We go through power suits, turrets, memory assault, and you seal a door on us?"

Cocking her arm back, she just chucked a bolt of lightning at it. "You gotta be kidding me!"

"Onee-sama! Don't do that in such an enclosed space!" Kuroko scolded her as she and Uiharu hung onto the stair railing as the building shook from the shockwave created by her attack impacting the seal on the door. An attack which incidentally easily tore a hole right through the metallic panels.

"She just keeps pissing me off today." The Number 5 retorted and nudged her head forward. "Let's go ladies."

Kuroko sighed and shared a look with Uiharu before they stepped forward and passed the threshold.

At that moment, she was overcome by another surge of foreign emotion. Instead of the haunting loneliness from before, this time it was joy.

 _For the first time since my family went to heaven, I was happy._ Saten-san's disembodied voice once more echoed through Kuroko's mind.

It was accompanied by the laughter of children.

 _I had finally found a group where I was no longer an outcast._

And then an image of a younger, short haired Kiyama-sensei standing awkwardly at the front of a classroom flashed briefly before her eyes.

 _But even more incredible was her. Sensei. She was always there._ Saten exclaimed in a childishly excited voice. _She might be clueless, clumsy, and pretty weird, but she still cared about us! Even though we played pranks on her, teased her about her tendency to strip for no good reason, she always came back for us. For the first time in such a long time, for all of us, she was the closest thing we had to a parent. No, no, she_ was _our parent. Our mother!_

"Kiyama-sensei." Uiharu's smiled, wiping a tear from her eye.

"That's was... I've never felt so delighted…" Kuroko confessed to herself, a hand over her heart as a warm fuzzy feeling came over her.

Onee-sama gave them warning looks. "Easy, she's pushing memories and emotions into you. Don't let it distract you."

The teleporter held her tongue, she knew Onee-sama was correct, but these honest and true feelings were just hard to ignore.

The [Railgun] continued forward, keeping an eagle eye on every nook, cranny, and shadow. "The main lab's up ahead, keep on your toes. She's gotta have more traps lying about."

As if Murphy heard her, vents opened up along the walls of the hallway they were walking down and began spewing out smoky white fumes.

"What is-? Is that knockout gas? Seriously? What is this?! A spy movie!" Onee-sama complained, looking ready to pull her hair out. "Wait! Maybe I can hack the system and-"

"And done." Uiharu smiled happily, as she finished inputting a series of commands on her tablet.

The gas from the vents stopped being pumped out and they closed up once more. At the same time, the sound of powerful fans starting up could be heard as they sucked the gas out of the corridor. It took only a minute before the room was clear of the gas, leaving it safe for them to traverse the hallway leading to the lab.

"Eh?" Onee-sama blinked. "But I was gonna hack it."

"And I did." Uiharu smiled angelically.

That was so fast though." As the trio started walking again.

"Uiharu is a natural at hacking, Onee-sama."

Her Onee-sama simply pouted. "But I wanted to do it…"

Kuroko shook her head. _Onee-sama, you can be so childish._

"She most likely assumed you would blow it up again and did it for you."

"Oi!"

Up ahead was a door labelled "Kiyama AIM Labs".

"Quaint." Kuroko quipped as she slowly reached for the knob. As her hand wrapped around the steel, she was hit once more with a memory.

Standing amid rows of Testament pods, all of which were covered in the blood of her siblings, Kuroko was overwhelmed by Saten-san's horror.

 _The AIM Diffusion Field Control Experiment. Or as it was more properly known 'Experiment on the analysis of the laws of induced explosions on runaway espers'. A dangerous experiment that sought to search for the trigger for overloading AIM diffusion fields in espers. Something they did by artificially inducing such an overload in us._ Saten-san explained in the most derisive voice Kuroko had heard _anyone_ use. _It sent my siblings into comas and awoke my accursed power._

Suddenly the scene shifted and Kuroko found herself undergoing a medical exam, one that she just _knew_ was just after Saten-san had first emulated the ability of another esper.

"I want a smoke." A uncharacteristically masculine voice came from a younger Saten-san's mouth much to the horror of both Kuroko and Saten herself.

A horror not shared by the scientists standing in front of her.

"Fascinating. So not only can she emulate the powers of other espers by shaping her AIM field to mimic their own, she also picks up aspects of them as well."

"It must be a side-effect of copying, in part, their personal realities."

 _These scientists, they_ _had no concern whatsoever that with each new power I emulated, I lost one more part of my own psyche._

A rapid fire series of images of various espers flashed through Kuroko's mind. Notables included the Level 5s like Accelerator and Onee-sama, but there were hundreds in-between. All the while, her mind was filled with a steadily growing cacophony of disembodied voices and feelings not her own. It just grew and grew until Kuroko could barely hear her own thoughts or discern her own feelings from all the others.

It was like her mind was swelling and refused to burst! It would have been a mercy if it did.

 _It was all too much! I had to find a way to cope, and I did. I turned my mind into a computer and became [The Robot]. The loss of humanity didn't faze the monsters however, it just justified what they planned to do with me next._

"So she's turned herself into a machine?" The voice of an old man said. "Well, if that's the case, then it's only right to have her play the part and be a nice little weapon for the City, no?"

What followed were a series of thankfully fleeting images of various battlefields from around the world, all of which starred an outwardly emotionless Saten-san brutally massacring enemy soldiers all while in the depths of her battered mind, the remnants of her humanity recoiled in horror.

 _I became Academy City's weapon, its dreaded [Army Slayer]. They dressed it up as me being the City's great defender but in reality they just sent me out to deal with its enemies. They even hired me out to other groups, other countries, to dispose of their enemies in the name of goodwill. In truth, they just wanted to remind them that Academy City was the one in charge._

 _But even all that was just an excuse. In reality, the whole thing was just another justification to give me more powers to emulate, so as to make me more effective._

 _I knew all this, but I couldn't say no. Not when I knew that Kaa-san was still in the City and at its mercy._ Saten mused sadly. _But I wasn't helpless. Going to war quickly taught me how important intelligence is. It was a lesson I used to free myself._

"So you blackmailed your handlers to free yourself from their control?" A older woman in her fifties or sixties with a small build asked. This was Oyafune Monaka, someone who the Level 5 knew to be the only moral Director on the City's Board. "And now you want me to back you and your freedom?"

"Yes." Saten-san in a utterly dead voice.

The older woman frowned but otherwise did not give any other sign that she noted Saten-san's inhumanity. "Very well."

"Thank you."

Even though Saten-san was just as monotonous as before, Kuroko seeing things from her perspective could easily sense the true gratitude at Oyafune's easy acceptance of her request. A sense of gratitude that grew even stronger, when the scene once again changed and the older woman was reuniting Saten-san wtih Kiyama-sensei and began working to have her be formally adopted by her mother figure.

Saten-san's happiness did not last though as she learnt that unlike herself none of her siblings had woke up. In light of this, she promised herself that she would save them no matter what.

Even if it meant using something as terrible as Level Upper.

"-uroko! Oh my god, stop screaming! Kuroko! Get a hold of yourself! Clench your teeth, this is gonna hurt!"

The teleporter's whole body felt a shock come over it as the memory faded.

"That was intense." Kuroko said with a groan, her body smoking. Her Onee-sama's whip of love came through for her after all. "It was like she decided to stop holding back and just jammed everything she still wanted to show us into one big chunk."

While Kuroko was having some difficulty coping with the memory, Uiharu was taking it much worse. She had collapsed onto her knees, and was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Saten!" Onee-sama stood up furiously and kicked open the door with jarring force. "This game ends now!"

" _Is that so, Misaka-sempai?"_ Saten-san asked almost coyly over the PA.

Before Onee-sama could reply, Uiharu spoke up in a soft voice. "Saten-san, is Level Upper really able to save your siblings?"

" _Yes. It will provide us with the computational power to run the simulations and calculations Kaa-san needs to find a solution."_

"Why not just request access to Tree Diagram?" Onee-sama asked with a frown, her anger from earlier set aside for the moment.

" _Do you think the Directors would ever allow it? Doing so would be handing over the only thing they can bribe me with. They would never hand over such a valuable piece of leverage. [Maniforce]'s boss would never allow it."_

"Namikaze-san's boss?" Kuroko asked as she brought up her guard. "The one who told her not to interfere?"

" _That's right, the Superintendent of Academy City himself."_

 _I've never seen heard of or seen such a person. And yet Namikaze-san works directly for him?_ Once again, a new mystery had been added to Kuroko's understanding of the little blonde. One of an ever growing number of unanswered questions.

" _It doesn't matter that we can't use Tree Diagram though, with Level Upper we have enough computing power to save them!"_ Saten-san shouted over the PA. Almost as if on cue, Kiyama-sensei chose this moment to enter the room.

* * *

Play Disgaea OST: Beautiful Round Dance

* * *

For a moment, happiness filled Kuroko, but she quickly realized it was just an after effect of being exposed to Saten-san's memories. What she was feeling was the other girl's affections for the woman. It was more than she'd ever imagined though. Before Saten-san had apparently decided to give Uiharu and herself a tour through her past, Kuroko had never fully appreciated the closeness that her friend shared with her adoptive mother. Between Saten-san's own often mechanical mannerisms and Kiyama-sensei's odd behavior, it was hard to see the love between them. Kuroko knew better now. Saten-san would do _anything_ for her mother, and she _knew_ the woman would do likewise.

"Welcome girls." Kiyama-sensei greeted in a oddly sincere way considering the situation. "We were expecting you."

"And creepy bad guy line number twenty two." Onee-sama muttered under her breath as she stepped forward gallantly and made a fist. Her eyes narrowed as she said. "Kiyama-sensei, this has got to stop. This is crazy!"

"Is it? I'd describe it as ironic, myself." Kiyama said with a wry grin. "We do something unethical, or as you say 'crazy', and we finally get official sanction for our plan to save the kids."

"Then you can use Tree-" Uiharu began enthusiastically, only to be cut off by the older woman.

Kiyama-sensei just shook her head sadly. "I wish that were the case. Even with authorization, they still play with us and refuse to allow us to make use of Tree Diagram."

"So you just use people like lab rats instead? Turn them into computers...like Saten." Onee-sama barely withheld a snarl.

"Ruiko is _not_ a computer!" The scientist shouted back defensively.

Onee-sama hummed, but kept her eyes wearily glued on the woman, the Teleporter also grasped her nails in case the woman turned hostile. So far thankfully, she seemed happy to just talk, but the Judgement agent knew that it would not last.

"By the way, from what I've seen on the surveillance footage so far, Ruiko showed you girls some memories from her past, didn't she, Shirai-san, Uiharu-chan?" Kiyama-sensei said wistfully. "I wonder what she let you see."

"She showed us enough!" Uiharu shot back aggressively. "She showed us how you're using her just like people have been using her ever since she's come to Academy City!"

Kiyama-sensei's eyes narrowed into a frankly terrifying glare that she leveled at Uiharu.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Uiharu-chan." She said in a menacing voice even as the retina in her right eye turned red and objects around her started to wobble unnaturally.

 _Kiyama-sensei is an esper!?_

"She's keyed into the Level Upper Network." Onee-sama reasoned as she tensed.

Uiharu didn't seem to care about the display though as she continued to berate their friend's mother.

"Kiyama-sensei!" Uiharu said in an uncharacteristic shout as she glared at the scientist. It was such an unexpected way for her partner to react that it startled Kuroko. "Why are you putting Saten-san's life at risk like this!?"

Kiyama-sensei stiffened, but didn't respond.

"Saten's life is at risk?" Onee-sama asked in a shocked gasp.

"Yes," Kuroko said in a pained whisper. "In a sense at least. Every time she copies a power, she gains an impression of the mind of the person whose power she is copying. And with the number of Level Upper users-"

"Her mind must be overloaded." Onee-sama concluded in a horrified tone.

"Terribly so." Kiyama-sensei admitted sounding pained. "Ruiko's grasp on her identity and sanity was already tenuous at best. The Network is a great strain on her."

"Then why did you do it!?" Uiharu accused as she continued to glare at the older woman, her hands tightening around her tablet.

"Ruiko volunteered." Kiyama-sensei replied with a strained look on her face.

"And you let her!"

"Enough talk." Kiyama-sensei said in a chilling voice.

She was hit with a blast of lightning right then and there. The light of the blast in the confined space of the room blinding everyone.

"Onee-sama!" Kuroko looked shocked at the sudden attack as she turned to face her to see electricity dancing across the older girl's forehead.

"We have to end this fast." Onee-sama simply told her.

"Admirable, Number 5." A unharmed Kiyama-sensei said as the Teleporter returned her attention to their opponent who stood within a translucent gray dome that must have somehow protected her from the attack. "However, such a direct approach is easily countered."

"So I was right. Great, this just got annoying."

"Indeed." Kiyama-sensei acknowledged with a nod as she levitated a bunch of loose stuff - small bits of lab equipment, loose stationery, even a handful of long abandoned coffee mugs - and launched them towards the three girls.

Onee-sama let out a shout as she slammed her palm to the ground, a wave of electricity arcing forward, destroying all the debris. The Ace of Tokiwadai had a smirk on her face.

"A direct approach like that is easily countered."

Kiyama-sense's only reply was a smirk of her own. Suddenly, Uiharu let out a squeal as she was telekinetically shoved away from the other girls. Kuroko turned to check on her partner only to spot an aluminum can teleport into position behind her and her Onee-sama. Acting quickly she grabbed the Level 5 and teleported away, just in time to avoid the can exploding with the force of a grenade.

"Why are you even fighting us?" Kuroko asked as they reappeared. "Saten's too busy to deal with us herself?"

"She's stalling, we have to take her down!" The Electromaster ordered as she fished out an arcade token.

"Are you crazy?" Kiyama-sensei asked, though her oddly unfazed expression clashed with her incredulous tone.

Kuroko was wondering the exact same thing!

If Onee-sama fired her Railgun right inside the building, it'd come down on all of them!

The older girl just smirked, took aim and flicked her token into the air. "Don't blink."

At her warning, Onee-sama adjusted her arm, thus adjusting her aim and targeted the door at the other side of the room, which likely led to where their objective - Saten-san - likely was.

Kiyama-sensei's eyes widened as she herself teleported in front of the door and stared Onee-sama down, raising her hands up as her face looked strained once again.

Kuroko narrowed her eyes at the charge along Onee-sama's arm, something wasn't-! Her eyes widened and she felt a small smile come across her face.

"Say hello to one hundred percent Railgun!"

Onee-sama flicked the coin, the token simply skipped across the ground harmlessly.

Kuroko teleported the very moment the coin came down, appearing right behind the scientist and swung her leg right at the woman's head in an attempt to knock her out.

Just as the sole of her foot was about to make contact, it was blocked by a rainbow colored flash of light, a pained cry attacking Kuroko's mind at the same time.

" _NO!"_

Kiyama-sensei turned around, their gambit thwarted. Just as she was about to attack the Teleporter, she blinked away. Thus narrowly avoiding a barrage of ice needles that would have left her a human pincushion. Reappearing in a tumble, she came to a stop near her Onee-sama as she rubbed her head.

"I believe Saten blocked it. I'm sorry, Onee-sama." Kuroko felt a pang of disappointment at the failed attempt. Perhaps if she had been quicker? No, Saten would have reacted the same even so.

Onee-sama clicked her tongue. "It's fine, we're pretty much just testing the waters here."

"Saten-san!" Uiharu shouted, having recovered from her earlier tumble. "You're watching this fight, aren't you? I saw you help Kiyama-sensei! Please stop! Please!"

"Ruiko, won't be so easily moved, Uiharu-chan. We are determin-"

"Urasai!" Uiharu screamed at the woman, tears in her eyes. For someone who was usually so soft spoken and timid, it was a rare sight to see such a fire in those honey brown eyes. "Just because Saten-san volunteered? She only did this because she can't tell you no! She loves you too much for that!"

Kiyama-sensei's eyes widened in what might have been a shocked epiphany, but Kuroko had no sympathy for her. Instead she took the opportunity the idiot woman's distraction offered and teleported a number of her nails into her body. Unfortunately, the projectiles just fell to the floor around her harmlessly.

The effect was so similar to a Level Upper using thug that she'd recently dealt with that Kuroko immediately figured out the trick.

"She's using Trick Art." The Judgement member said sourly, feeling the phantom pains of her fight with the crazed thug.

"Trick what?"

"It's a ability to bend light to distort images." Kuroko explained. "It makes gauging where the user's position difficult by creating illusions. Hitting the target and avoiding hits yourself becomes very hard."

"...It just interferes with the flow of light around a target, right?" Onee-sama asked her quickly.

"I believe so." Kuroko answered unsurely. What was her Onee-sama getting at?

"Buy me a few seconds."

"I'm afraid I'm not going to give you that much time, [Railgun]." Kiyama-sensei declared as she raised a hand, cupping a sphere of plasma at the two Tokiwadai girls. At the last minute however, she was forced to abort her attack as Uiharu tried to tackle her. Forced to turn her attention to the Level 1, the scientist let the plasma dissipate and with a sigh telekinetically lifted the girl into the air and sent her flying to land gently in a office chair at the far side of the lab which spun wildly at the sudden move.

"I think I'm going to hurl!" Uiharu cried out with dizzy eyes.

"Onee-sama! Did you see that? It looks like she can only use two powers at a time."

"Don't count on it." Onee-sama hissed under her breathe as she continued to cook up whatever she was working on. "It's probably a trick."

"Talking about tricks. I can't make a building fall on this-" Kuroko was cut off by a force slamming into her and sending her sprawling onto the ground. "-one… I am willing to make an exception here if we could actually afford it."

Sadly, they could not.

She moved to grab a few of the discarded and charred items that her Onee-sama had destroyed from Kiyama-sensei's starting attack and teleported them in a random pattern around the room. Hoping, praying, that they would tap into something to at least give her a clue where the woman was.

Her teleportation failed though and the objects remained where they were.

"Wha-" Kuroko stifled her surprise quickly though as the spatial awareness that was part of her ability quickly allowed her to figure out what was going on. Kiyama-sensei wasn't just distorting light it seemed, but the space around her too. Subtly, mind you, so it was not visibly noticeable. But more than enough to throw off the Teleporter's calculations and make her ability fail.

"Ugh! She's locked down my ability."

The only sign that her Onee-sama noticed her predicament was the narrowing of her eyes, beyond that she was too focused on looking around the room cautiously. All whilst her electricity arced around her body, scorching the ground in her vicinity. Her eyes were focused, almost luminous as her lightning reflected off them. In a triumphant voice, she shouted.

"Found you!"

She discharged a wave of lightning towards one half of the room, ozone filled the air even as they impacted the same translucent grey dome that Kiyama-sensei had used earlier.

"This same old trick?" The older woman said in a dismissive tone. "You'll need to try something ne-"

Her taunt was cut off however as she suddenly hissed in pain. At the same time, the translucent dome collapsed and her form shimmered out of existence only to reappear a few feet to the left of her previous position as Trick Art failed as well. Her spatial distortions fading at the same time.

Immediately, Onee-sama cut off the lightning, but not before the woman jerked after being shocked from the blow. Amazingly she kept her feet, though she stumbled drunkenly.

"Heat. You let the heat transfer that passed through the insulating barrier burn me." The woman said in amazement as she grabbed hold of a nearby lab counter to stay upright. She looked quite the mess, her clothes were smoking, her long hair was singed and burns littered quite a bit of her exposed skin.

The injuries were rapidly healing though and she was pushing off the lab counter to continue the fight when she was unexpectedly whapped on the head hard enough to knock her out.

As she fell to the ground in a graceless lump, Kuroko spotted the attacker. Standing over her was Uiharu, holding one of Anti-Skill's electro-riot batons.

"...Uiharu-san, that was awesome." Onee-sama praised with wide eyes.

Kuroko was stunned by what Uiharu had done. She was breathing heavily and her knees were shaking but her partner had just managed to do what she and Onee-sama had been struggling to do for the whole fight in a single daring move.

* * *

Stop - Disgaea OST: Beautiful Round Dance

* * *

"Can we save Saten-san now?" The flower wearing girl asked as she collapsed the baton, still looking a bit queasy.

"Let's." Onee-sama said as she cracked her knuckles and stepped towards the door that presumably led to where their friend was. "I want to have words with that stupid kohai of mine."

Following behind the Level 5, the two other girls approached the vault door that led into the next room.

"What's with the door anyways?" Kuroko idly asked.

"It's a secure clean room." Uiharu explained. "These kind of doors are pretty standard for those."

They were a few paces from the door when it swung open of its own accord. A burst of gas escaping from the dimly lit room beyond.

The three girls exchanged a look.

"I guess she's inviting us in?" Uiharu suggested hopefully.

"Then we shouldn't disappoint her."

Onee-sama just nodded and walked into the room, with Kuroko right behind her. Uiharu was bringing up the rear and was just crossing the threshold when she let out a frustrated cry.

"Not again!"

Spinning around, Kuroko saw her partner being thrown back into the lab by what must have been a telekinetic attack. Kuroko rushed to help her but the door slammed right in her face.

"Onee-sama, Uiharu-"

" **Will be left out of this."** Saten's voice echoed from all around them.

"Guess you haven't fully lost it if you still care for Uiharu-san. That's good." Onee-sama said as she frowned towards the other occupant in the room.

Lying in a pod of some kind on a stage like area in the centre of the room, a large spherical affair with a three stories radius that was similar to an amphitheatre, that was full nearly to the brim with computer equipment from which emerged a maze of cables that all led to the pod, was Saten.

" **I'm still fully in control of my faculties."** Saten replied. **"I thank you for your concern, but I must ask you to leave."**

"Not a chance. Not without stopping you first."

" **You have no hope of doing that."**

"And why's that Miss Number 3?" Onee-sama balled her fists, a challenging glint in her eyes.

" **A second rate Level 5 can't beat me."**

Onee-sama froze where she stood and ground her teeth, asking sharply. "What did you call me!?"

" **It's simply the truth. After Number 4, all the other the Level 5s are in a lower bracket compared to us. I would be worried if Namikaze-san was here, but she is not. Your chances of victory are nonexistent."**

"Want to prove that talk?" Onee-sama's eye twitched as lightning arced around her body in her agitation.

Oh this wasn't going to end well.

" **If you insist on interfering then you leave me with no choice."** With that a massive blizzard of wickedly sharp ice shards flew their way.

Like with Kiyama-sensei's own opening move, Onee-sama just countered it with a wave of electricity.

"This fight is on!" Onee-sama shouted as she launched a lightning bolt back at Saten in retaliation.

* * *

The lightning bolt struck a pink barrier that easily negated the powerful electric attack.

" **You'll have to do better than that Misaka-sempai."** Saten taunted. **"Though I won't let you."**

Mikoto was about to retort but was pulled up short when a wave of nausea suddenly overcame her.

"Ugh! What's with this feeling?" Kuroko said with groan from beside her, apparently suffering from the same thing.

"I don't know, but I'm betting Saten has something to do with it."

"Well, then let's return the favor." Kuroko said with a smirk as she fought off the nausea and reached down to the nails she had holstered around her thighs.

"What?" The Teleporter gasped. "Why isn't my ability working?"

" **That would be my doing."** Saten gloated. **"I'm the [AIM Sovereign], using my power to disrupt the AIM fields of my enemies is par for the course for me."**

Mikoto cursed under her breath as she called on her own powers, but everything seemed to be taking twice the effort than they normally did. "Can't fight a real battle huh?"

" **Why lower myself to your oh so 'honorable' standards. I fight to win. I** _ **always**_ **fight to win."**

While the two Level 5s bantered, Kuroko was busy focusing to fight through Saten's interference. She announced her success at this with a shout, "Take this!"

At the same moment, a server tower near Saten's location was perforated by dozens of nails, shorting out in the process. Another dozen or so nails appeared in midair next to it however and fell to the floor harmlessly.

"...It seems my aim is off, Onee-sama."

"No duh."

" **You didn't think disrupting your AIM fields is the only form of jamming I'm using, do you? Jamming is my forte after all."**

"I was optimistic." Kuroko muttered as the wrecked server started to disassemble itself and the components floated into the air.

"Kuroko, dodge it!" Mikoto shouted, as she did the same. With her powers on the fritz, she wasn't confident of blocking the attack on her own. She tried nonetheless and a weaker than usual wave of electricity surged at the incoming projectiles. It took out half of them but that still left the remainder on a collision course for the two of them.

The [Railgun] made it through largely okay, her electric surge had cleared most of the stuff headed her way but Kuroko wasn't so lucky. She had leapt out of the way, but her legs still ended up getting hit by RAM drives and disk fragments that left them littered in cuts. Landing in a rough tumble, the Teleporter hissed as she held her legs in pain while they bled sluggishly from the many wounds.

"Kuroko!" Mikoto shouted in horror at the sight, before she snapped a glare towards her other kohai. "Saten!"

" **Did you think you could just walk in here and think this would be simple? This is life, all you do is get hurt, over and over again. You need to take the beating and move on. I think you need that lesson, Sempai. You've lived far too softly."**

Just as she said this, Kuroko cried out.

"Onee-sama!"

The [Railgun] felt two hands shove her back, spinning around she was just in time to see Kuroko get hit by a man sized orb of greyish metallic substance - it couldn't have been real metal though, Mikoto would have sensed it if it was - and was sent flying.

The Teleporter fell in a painful thud, soft whimpers coming from her downed form.

" **Impressive, she was able to overcome the jamming by compensating with extra calculations to teleport herself. Too bad it took all her concentration to do so. And all to save you Sempai. So dedicated."**

"You make all this sound like a game." Mikoto muttered in anger, biting her bottom lip until it bled. Her fists clenched as they sparked wildly.

" **Last I checked, Sempai, that was you. Welcome to the real world."**

The grey stuff suddenly shifted form and became small pellets that shot at Mikoto. Using what little of her electromagnetic manipulation she had access to, the Electromaster created a magnetic effect that pulled her out of the way of the barrage just as they peppered where she had been standing and exploded in a series of small blasts.

"Are you trying to kill us!?"

" **Not at all. If I was, this would already be over. As much as I hate the fact, I have too much experience with killing."**

 _Great! She's holding back and I'm still getting owned!_ Mikoto grumbled. She set aside the bit about Saten being a killer for now. She could deal with that later. Right now, she had to focus on not being another addition to her kohai's kill count.

Even as she thought this, she was forced to burst into a run as Saten fired off energy blasts at her. Each just missing her by a few feet.

 _She really is holding back._ The Number 5 admitted in annoyance. _She's missing on purpose. I can't be this weak! Saten can't be right about me being a second rate! Namikaze was able to hurt Saten, and we are all Level 5s! If that damned Usagi could do it._

"Then so can I!"

Saten didn't seem to agree though as she upped the ante and turned the floor Mikoto was running along into a liquified mess. The Electromaster jumped and using some precise magnetic attraction reached a height that put Olympic athletes to shame.

While still in the air, she spun to face her opponent and with a roar, a electrical blast discharged from her in a burst wave. Wild and free, the arcs jumped towards Saten with primal ferocity.

Only to be negated by the same pink barriers that Saten had used earlier.

" **If I can't pin you down directly. Perhaps I can do so in another way."**

As [Multi-Skill] spoke, she conjured a large mass of energy over her pod which she then shaped into a arrow like shape and pointed it right at Kuroko.

"Onee-sama!" The Judgement agent called out fearfully at the sight.

"Kuroko!" Mikoto screamed as she used every trick she had available to her to rush to her roommate's side.

Sliding in front of the wounded Kuroko just as the terrible energy bolt flew their way, Mikoto focused with all her will to overcome Saten's disruption of her ability, managing just in time to use her magnetic powers to wrench a pair of large server towers from their housings and into the path of Saten's energy blast.

As the servers crumpled under the blast, Mikoto tossed the remains at her opponent. They shattered the pink colored barriers that Saten were using to defend herself easily much to the [Railgun]'s surprise.

" **Impressive! I hadn't expected you would be able to manage the fine control to move things that large with your electromagnetism even while I disrupted your powers, Misaka-sempai."**

The Electromaster ignored the other girl, instead focusing on analyzing what had just happened. _Her defenses are optimized against my electric attacks_. _That means she's vulnerable to physical attacks._

Acting quickly, Mikoto used her powers to send a trio of the towers and a host of smaller metallic rubble flying at Saten. The barrage was blocked though by a new crimson red barrier which disintegrated the projectiles on contact.

The older girl noted however that the electromagnetic field she'd used to levitate the projectiles in the first place passed through the barrier unhindered.

 _Is she only able to optimize her barriers against electrical_ or _physical attacks at any given time? Not both?_ Mikoto theorised, tensing her body. _Time to test it._

"Onee-sama-" Kuroko whispered, struggling to get up.

"I saw it too." Mikoto replied just as softly as she concentrated on what she needed to do. It was going to be a challenge with Saten's ability jamming, but Mikoto was confident she could pull this off.

Firing off a wave of electricity at Saten, her new barriers vanished only to be replaced with the pink ones that her kohai had been using for the majority of the fight. They easily absorbed the attack like they had done previously.

Just like before, Saten immediately counterattacked. This time sending a volley of javelins made out of that strange grey stuff flying her way. Mikoto knew better than to try controlling them with her electromagnetic power, they might look it but they weren't metallic at all. Instead, she launched a counter barrage with a large number of the growing number of debris that was filling up the room. The larger volume of her counter easily deflected Saten's attack with plenty to spare, which continued their deadly arc towards the other Level 5.

As expected, [Multi Skill] promptly switched her barrier to the red anti-materiel barrier. Seeing this Mikoto smirked and launched a lightning bolt at her opponent.

The lightning bolt cut through the barrier with barely any resistance even as the physical projectiles were destroyed and struck Saten's pod. It must have hit something important as the pod and the large amount of machinery around it started to spark and smoke, before they suddenly exploded and threw up a huge cloud of smoke.

"Saten!"

"Saten-san!"

Both Tokiwadai girls screamed in worry for their schoolmate.

Suddenly though the smoke cleared as tendrils of rainbow energy swept them aside revealing something that left them both stunned.

It was a humanoid figure that was at least two stories tall and dominated the whole room. It was a caricature of Saten-san in a red ballroom dress and a pair of matching gloves with her leaning back, her arms spread and her head tilted upwards almost as if gazing skyward in prayer. The thing's hair was a perfect replica of Saten's, complete with her trademark hairclip. On its face, was a blank masquerade mask.

The thing's dress and gloves left its neck, shoulders and upper arms exposed, revealing its flesh. Flesh that was a translucent pink mass that gave it a inhuman quality despite its overall humanoid shape.

At its waist though was something that spoiled the humanoid facade entirely. It was a structure that looked like a large glass dome that protruded from the folds of the thing's dress. It seemed to take the place of the thing's legs, which it lacked entirely. The dome was filled with rainbow energy within which a shadowy figure in the fetal position floated.

From its back, the rainbow energy tendrils from earlier grew out of its back in a poor imitation of wings. This combined with the golden halo that floated over its upturned face gave the impression of a Angel, a pregnant one but still an Angel. Despite that, it looked utterly alien.

"What in the world?" Kuroko said in shock as both of them gazed up at the monstrous thing that Saten had become.

Misaka, wary though she was of this new development, spared her battered roommate a look, only to see her be teleported away.

"Kuroko!"

" **It's just us Level 5s from now on, Misaka-sempai."** The transformed Saten said in an echoing voice as her new form rose into the air to loom over her.

* * *

As Kazari flew through the air for the third time in the day due to someone throwing her through the air telekinetically, she saw the vault door that led to where Saten-san was slam shut.

Despite the soft landing, she let out a pained cry. Not due to physical pain, but an emotional one. It was clear what Saten-san was trying to tell her by keeping her from getting into the room to see her.

"Saten-san, you can't face me, can you?" Kazari asked with a forlorn expression on her face.

" _I'm sorry Uiharu."_ Saten-san's apologetic voice echoed telepathically into her mind. _"But I just don't want you to get hurt. Could you take care of Kaa-san for me?"_

Kazari frowned but nodded.

Putting words into action she walked towards the unconscious Kiyama-sensei and with some difficulty moved her into a more comfortable position.

As she did so, her actions seem to cause the scientist to stir.

"Err." The older woman said as her eyes snapped open. "What happened?"

"You were knocked unconscious." Kazari informed her cautiously, her hand tightly gripping her riot baton just in case.

"I see." Kiyama-sensei acknowledged surprisingly easily as she sat up and leaned against a nearby lab counter, looking around and noticing that it was only the two of them as she did so. "I take it that the others have gone on ahead?"

Kazari nodded before adding, "Saten-san stopped me from following though, and asked me to look after you."

"I see."

Seeing as Kiyama-sensei did not look ready to continue the fight from earlier, the Judgement agent decided to be bold.

"Do you, Kiyama-sensei?" Kazari accused with a glare.

"What do you mean, Uiharu-chan?"

"How could you turn Saten-san, your own daughter, into a criminal, especially after all the terrible things she was already forced to do."

"As I said, we ha-" Kiyama begun the justification that she had repeated what seemed like a dozen times already.

Kazari was having none of it.

"Of course you had a choice!" The girl screamed, looking down as she added in a quiet whisper. "There is always a choice..."

Kiyama-sensei shifted uneasily, before she defensively replied, "Well... we couldn't think of any."

Kazari wanted to slap the woman but refrained, instead she tried a different tack.

"Do you think the other kids would appreciate what you made Saten-san do to save them?"

Again Kiyama-sensei fidgeted awkwardly as she tried to formulate a reply. Before she could come up with anything though, the conversation between the two were interrupted when Shirai-san suddenly appeared next to them.

"Shirai-san!" Kazari called out to her partner in concern.

The teleporter was badly beat up. Her clothes were all torn up and she was covered in bruises and cuts. Seeing this, Kazari rushed over to help her partner.

"Darn it! She's still jamming my ability." The injured girl hissed as she shakily struggled to push herself up from her prone position.

"What did you expect? Disrupting her opponents' powers is Ruiko's speciality." Kiyama-sensei observed coolly.

"Saten-san did this to you?" Kazari asked disbelievingly as she helped her friend into a sitting position.

"Yes." Shirai-san admitted through gritted teeth. "And she teleported me out here too. Right after she transformed into some kind of monster."

"Angel." Kiyama-sensei corrected harshly. "Ruiko must be using her Chrysalis Angel Mode."

"I don't care what she calls it." Kuroko shot back. "All I know is that she's used some power up and is fighting Onee-sama with it. I have to go help her. Uiharu help me up."

"And how do you intend to get through that door? And even if you manage that, how do you plan to be anything but a nuisance in a fight against Ruiko?"

Shirai-san ignored Kiyama-sensei and with Kazari's help managed to get to her feet.

"I could hack through the systems that control the door?" Kazari offered.

"Do it!" Kuroko ordered.

Kazari had just pulled out her tablet to do just that when suddenly a whole chunk of the wall, the vault door included, disintegrated as a stream of rainbow light tore through it.

Peering through the gap that it had made, Kazari made out Misaka-san battling against a strange looking something that hovered in midair even as rainbow streams of energy that emerged from its back whipped through the room as they pursued the Electromaster.

 _Saten-san!_

" **Misaka-sempai, seeing this form do you finally realize that you're not as much a top dog as you like to think."**

"Do you have a God Complex now? Because you keep talking like you do!" Misaka-san shouted as she evaded the rainbow tendrils. "Besides what the hell have you turned yourself into?"

 _Is that really Saten-san? Really!? She sounds like some kind of crazy villain._

" **I have turned into a creature of AIM. This is my true self, my true nature. I am not just Saten Ruiko, I have not been such for a long time. I am the conglomerate entity of all the impressions I have ever emulated."**

"I think Saten-san has lost it." Shirai-san commented.

Kazari wanted to refute that, but honestly considering the things that her best friend was saying, she couldn't.

Misaka-sempai jumped into the air, her fist surrounded by electricity and pulled back to punch Saten-san's strange form. The rainbow things formed a shield to protect Saten-san however, and Misaka-sempai was forced to shoot away with some magnetic repulsion to escape being caught by the things.

"Why the hell are you talking like some comic book villain?" The Electromaster shouted as she flew away from Saten-san's hovering form. [Multi-Skill] let her, choosing to only lazily and halfheartedly send her rainbow colored constructs chasing after her.

Saten-san didn't reply to Misaka-san's question, but she didn't need to. Not for Kazari to realize her reasons anyway. _She's behaving this way because that's what she wants us to think of her as._

"Saten-san!" Kazari called out at the top of her voice, walking away from Shirai-san and stepping through the hole in the wall into the battlefield beyond. "Stop pretending! There's no need for that anymore, I understand you now."

"Uiharu, what are you doing?" Her partner hissed worriedly, but Kazari ignored her. She knew what she was doing. At least she hoped she did.

" **Do you really think I am pretending, Uiharu?"** Saten asked with a bemused tone to her distorted voice. **"Does this look like I'm pretending?"**

In an attempt to prove her act, Saten intensified her attack on Misaka-san. Her wings which had been lazy and drifting around the large room aimlessly until then, suddenly all zeroed in on the other Level 5. It was only through a series of impressive gymnastics only made possible by expert use of her electromagnetism that the Electromaster avoided being skewered. She was so busy twisting, turning and zipping through the air that she was too busy to even counterattack.

"Yes, pretending." Kazari countered. "If you were really serious, there would be no way that Misaka-san would have escaped that."

The Number 3's only response was to launch another dramatic attack. She conjured hundreds of nails made of some strange grey metal and sent it flying at Misaka-san in a deadly rain.

"Onee-sama!" Shirai-san cried out in concern as she rejoined the Level 1's side.

She needn't have worried. As the Electromaster grabbed hold of a bunch of metallic debris with her magnetic powers and used it to shield her from the attack.

 _And also because Saten-san let those nails hang in the air looking threatening long enough to give her time to pull that off._

Kazari wasn't going to jinx things though. Saten-san was determined to keep pretending and was committed enough to do that to up the ante in her attacks to do so. She didn't want to risk her miscalculating things when she did so and accidentally leading her to hurting Misaka-san.

Saten-san would never forgive herself if that happened.

 _Better to change tack._

"That was why you forced us to see those memories and feel your feelings, right? You wanted us to know you, really know you." Kazari argued. "Well it worked. I understand you now, better than I ever have."

This new approach immediately yielded positive results as Saten-san, even her swaying wings, stilled as if in surprise.

"You're open!" Misaka-san shouted as she seized the opportunity that this created and unleashed a chaotic electric storm. Deadly bolts of lightning and a hail of metallic debris of all types flew towards Saten-san's inhuman form. The attack left the Electromaster huffing and puffing, but as the barrage slammed into the distracted [AIM Sovereign], a broad satisfied grin grew on her face.

 _It won't be so easy, Misaka-san. Saten-san is too stubborn for it to be._

True to Kazari's thoughts, Saten-san tanked the attack. The body of her angel form was covered in burns and cuts but even as Kazari watched, it repaired itself.

"Great! Now it heals too!?" Shirai-san complained under her breath.

"Hax!" Misaka-san said, clearly sharing her roommate's sentiments.

Saten-san seemed to take offense, whether to the attack or to the comments from her schoolmates Kazari couldn't be sure, as she retaliated by causing the whole building to violently shake either via telekinesis or geokinesis. It threw Misaka-san who had still been recovering from her own attack to the ground and out of sight.

"Onee-sama!" Shirai-san screamed as she rushed as quickly as her injured body allowed towards where they had last seen their friend. Kazari let her partner go, she would be of more help in another way.

"Stop trying to pretend you're a monster or some kind of villain!" Kazari shouted, her growing frustration with Saten-san's act finally getting the better of her. "You're none of those things!"

" **Aren't I?"** Saten-san asked as she turned to face Kazari, no longer focusing on Misaka-san.

 _That's a relief. Well, here comes the hard part._

"Of course not." Kazari said in as cheerful a tone as she could. "That thing you're using now, it's called the Chrysalis Angel Mode, right?"

" **Kaa-san, told you about it?"**

Kazari nodded.

" **Yes, that's what I call it."**

"If that's you as a Chrysalis," Kazari said trying to sound confident, even as she grasped for straws. "Then what do you want to be when you finish your metamorphosis?"

"Uiharu, don't play along with Saten-san's madness." Shirai-san called out from across the room.

Saten-san turned to face her, her wings twisting in the air threateningly. Kazari couldn't lose her focus and so ignoring her partner, continued as if she had not been interrupted. Drawing on what she had been musing about Namikaze-san a few days ago, Kazari continued to try to get through to her friend.

"Do you want to emerge a monstrous fallen angel, a devil, after committing even more terrible crimes? Or do you want to spend the time inside atoning for whatever sins you feel you have so that you can come out as a holy and pure angel?"

" **Either way I would be inhuman."** Saten-san in a dejected voice.

"I don't believe that!" Uiharu rejected vehemently, before softening her tone. "But even if it _was_ true, why would it matter?"

" **Why wouldn't it?"**

"Because no matter what you are, you'll still be my best friend!"

Again the [Multi-Skill] stilled. _Silly Saten-san. Was it really_ that _big of a surprise?_

That was not the only thing that repeated itself however, as like previously Misaka-san was not about to let the opening go without exploiting it. Jumping out from behind the wrecked server towers that she had apparently been hiding behind, she fired off a massive lightning bolt at Saten-san. The unexpected electrical blast tore a large chunk out of the Angel Mode's body, arcing around the orb that contained Saten-san's real body.

Kazari felt her heart seize in fear at the sight and was relieved when Saten-san shook off the attack. She was less happy to see her turn to face Misaka-san and send her flying hard into a wall with telekinesis. Shirai-san, who had been nearby, tried to catch the older girl but was shoved aside by one of Saten-san's wings which proceeded to pin her to the ground.

" **I grow tired of your interference, Sempai."** Saten-san sounding every bit the villain once again.

 _Darn it!_ Kazari cursed even as she pushed her weak body to run as fast as she could.

Slowly, menacingly, Saten-san's by now fully repaired form moved to loom over the [Railgun] who was resting against the wall she had been slammed into looking dangerously still.

Conjuring a set of shackles in the strange grey metal that she seemed to favor, the [AIM Sovereign] spoke with finality. **"These should keep you out of the way until I'm done with the calculations."**

Before her best friend could attach the shackles around her sempai's limbs, Kazari managed to interpose herself between the two other girls.

"Saten-san. Please stop!" Kazari wheezed out while she fought to steady her breathing after her exertion. "Saten-san, you don't have do this. You're not alone. Not anymore. Together, we can come up with some other way. A better, safer way for you to save your siblings that doesn't hurt you or others."

The angel was unmoved, but Saten-san was another case altogether. Inside the bubble where she was hiding, she uncurled from her fetal position and turned to look Kazari in the eye.

Encouraged, Kazari continued. "You have plenty of friends. Not just me. There's Shirai-san, Misaka-san, and Namikaze-san too."

"Yes, you might be a little crazy." Shirai-san piped in. "But that's par for the course for Level 5s, I guess. It doesn't make you any less my friend."

"Kuroko, what were you saying about us Level 5s?" The [Railgun] deadpanned as she pushed himself back up to her feet, having recovered from her unexpected forceful meeting with a wall.

"Onee-sama, you're alright!"

Misaka-san nodded but kept her focus on her fellow Level 5. "Look, Saten. I don't care what's happened to you in the past. And I think I speak for all of us, even that stupid Usagi… here and now, you're our friend. That's all that matters."

Kazari nodded enthusiastically. "They're right, Saten-san. So as friends we shouldn't be fighting. Let us help us you instead."

The Chrysalis Angel Mode's form wavered.

" **But what about my siblings?"** Saten-san asked uncertainly, **"If I don't use Level Upper how can I save them?"**

"Ruiko, don't worry." Kiyama-sensei declared as she stumbled into the room. "We'll save them. We just need to find another way. One where you won't have to risk yourself or hurt your friends."

" **But-"**

Kazari moved towards the large angel form and put her hand on the dome which held her friend. "Saten-san! Believe in yourself and us! We'll do it!"

Shirai-san and Misaka-san both nodded in agreement.

For a tense moment, nothing happened and then suddenly the angelic form abruptly began to fall apart. Its wings fading away and its body disintegrating. As it broke up, Saten-san fell towards the ground.

Kazari rushed forward to catch her and managed, but was almost immediately overwhelmed by her weight. Before she collapsed though, both Misaka-san and Shirai-san had rushed over to help her. They had both been hurt in the fight though and so weren't at their best, as such all they managed was a somewhat controlled descent to the floor.

"...I'm tired. My brain needs a nap."

At Saten-san's monotone drawl, Kazari's lips wobbled as she let loose a giggle. As it dragged on, it turned into full blown laughter.

Misaka-san snorted as well and laughed a little too. Shirai-san looked at the two in bemusement as she just rolled her eyes. Looking on from nearby, Kiyama-sensei smiled at the friends.

"Let's just get out of here and call Anti-Skill." Said the Teleporter.

* * *

Light from a monitor reflected off of Naru's blue eyes as she viewed the entire conclusion of the Level Upper incident. She was in a specialised surveillance vehicle that had been disguised as a nondescript van. Its entire interior was lined with multiple screens. Some, like the one she had been watching, had been linked directly to Kiyama's lab's security feed and allowed them to see what had happened as the fight played itself out. Others displayed more esoteric data gathered from specialised sensors that Naru couldn't even begin to understand.

What the blonde did understand was that her sempai was so stupid. It seemed only Uiharu-chan bothered to heed her advice.

"The Superintendent received all the data he needed." A gruff voice said from next to her. Its owner was a blonde man with short and wild hair, which emphasised his strong features. Features that were made intimidating by a spreading black tattoo on the left side of his face. An effect made even more so by his tall stature. This was the notoriously cold Kihara Amata, who was to the point as usual.

His fist banged the wall that separated the driving cab from the rest of the vehicle. "Move out."

As Naru continued to watch the feed of the girls, she felt as though she wanted to step outside and join the group. She had even inched towards the rear door. By now, Saten-chan had taken to apologizing to the others repeatedly, and Uiharu-chan was hugging the girl something fierce.

The knot that settled in her gut had finally loosened and relief washed over her.

Amata raised a crooked brow at her, "You want out?"

Naru stopped her movements, staying in her seat as she said. "No. Let's just go."

The van started moving and Amata chuckled. "Are you going soft over a few test subjects?"

Naru glared at the leader of Hound Dog, Academy City's elite black ops team, and retorted with the force of a tundra as she radiated her killing intent -something that caused the van to swerve as the driver lost control for a moment, but beyond that neither he nor Kihara heeded it- at the man. "Fuck off or I'll kill you, Amata."

Amata just smiled crazily, not even flinching at her threat. As her killing intent ebbed, he said. "There you are, was worried for a second about our rabid mutt."

"I only worked with you a few times, and that was because of Crowley's orders." [Maniforce] said curtly.

"Whatever you gotta tell yourself, [Alien]."

* * *

It was pretty unbelievable how fast Ruiko was released from Anti-Skill. Level 5s tended to get a lot of leeway when it involved the law, and the Number 3 was perfectly okay with abusing it this time. All it had taken was a few calls to some of her influential 'friends', and Anti-Skill released her after only some light questioning. She hadn't even had to contact her personal backer on the Board of Directors, Oyafune Monaka.

She really didn't want to sit in some cell after all.

Sadly though, her Kaa-san _had been_ arrested and it was going to take a few more calls to her 'friends' and some traded information to get her released. It shouldn't be too difficult to manage though, after all they had been very cooperative.

Without any prompting they had voluntarily handed over the uninstallation program for Level Upper into Anti-Skill's custody. Which allowed the security organisation to quickly arrange for a public broadcast that served to dismantle the Network. As such all victims of the side effects of Level Upper had woken up from their temporary comas, with no lasting consequences.

Too bad the same could not be said for herself. The echoes of the 10,000 Level Upper users would forever be a part of her from now onwards thanks to her ability.

It was a small price to pay however. For despite everything, they had succeeded. Even with all the well intentioned interruptions by first Namikaze-san and then Uiharu and the others, Ruiko had managed to complete the calculations and simulations for a viable method of awakening her siblings. Now all she needed was to arrange for Kaa-san's release and they could get to work.

 _Now, what's the best way to go about doing-_

The Number 3 was distracted from her thoughts when a sudden whistle caught her attention. Turning to the source of the noise, she came face to face with the manic smile of the person who was oddly one of her closest friends.

"Look who went and fucked up their little Level 6 Shift experiment."

"...What are you doing here, Accelerator?"

The boy in question was a skinny thing and pale to the point he could be labelled an albino what with his scarlet red eyes and moppy white hair. Of course she knew this wasn't the case, his physical appearance was merely the result of his powers blocking any ultraviolet rays, thereby preventing his body from producing melanin.

His ability also reduced outside influences so much that it causes a loss of balance in his hormones, giving him a rather androgynous appearance, which if he was someone else might have led to him being poked fun of, but no one was foolish enough to do it.

After all, few, if any, could possibly make fun of the most powerful esper in Academy City and live to tell the tale.

Well, Namikaze-san would be stupid enough to do it, but she was of the few who could possibly get away with it.

He was clad in a black tee-shirt with white V designs going down it and a pair of black jeans and shoes.

"To laugh at you? I mean, you failed, sure, but you did it spectacularly." He brought his thumb and index finger a centimeter apart. "Near epic even."

Ruiko breathed through her nose. He was as itchy for a confrontation as usual.

"It wasn't my goal to become a Level 6. No one can do that as of now."

He looked at her like she was an idiot and laughed in an almost demented way. "Au contraire [Multi-Skill], Level 6 ain't a dream."

With that he began to walk away, tossing a hand over his shoulder. "You can pretend all you want, but your plan still failed miserably. Don't worry though, I'll be the first to reach it. In fact, I'm on my way to an _appointment_ to work on that."

He looked over his shoulder and smiled wickedly.

"After all, the Number 1 is always the first."

For a moment, Ruiko considered finding out what in the world Accelerator meant, but in the end she just shook her head and ignored it. She had more than enough stuff to worry already without the trouble that would certainly come with digging into what was undoubtedly some kind of secret experiment.

With a shake of her head, she turned away from her fellow Level 5 and continued on her way home.

* * *

 **...We know, mega chapter is mega huge! Sorry guys, but we just had wrap up the Level Upper arc because we didn't feel the need to break this chapter in half. And even if we did, the next chapter would have been rather short. Plus it took so long to do this one with our schedules. Anyway! Thanks to Nameless as usual for the help and hope we did this arc some justice (Which rains from above)!**

 **Nameless: Yup. I very much hope that the chapter was a good wrap-up to the Level Upper arc. This concludes our first arc, a Saten arc. The next big arc is the Big Spider arc which we are making a Naru arc. I hope you are looking forward to it.**

 **I know Naru's not getting a lot of screen time, but it was clearly Saten's arc, so just be patient guys. We want to show off all our characters and their own character development.**

 **Nameless: For Saten's Chrysalis Angel Mode, we took inspiration from the Persona Juno from Persona 3. Modified of course. Also this form and the bit about Aleister collecting data foreshadows a tie-in with a canon character. Anyone up for guessing who?**

 **As for the title, it's a song of course and it just fit well with how the chapter had angels and such. The whole idea of "Angel with a Shotgun" is about someone pure, or peaceful but is willing to be violent for the sake of whoever the angel is protecting. So symbolism and fitting narrative or whatev it is.**

 **Nameless: As for the fighting in this chapter. We hope it was decent. Two things motivated us on this front. 1) The canon established fact that the first tier of Level 5s outclass the others. 2) That Saten eventually stands down not because she's defeated (none of her opponents in the final fight could pull that off) but because she was talked down and that her objective was basically already reached.**

 **Mikoto's might makes right didn't do anything this time and it was Uiharu's brains over brawn that truly saved the day. Like Naru hinted at, it was a mind game more than anything with this battle.**

 **Hm, what else to say? Well, all I can think of is that I hope you enjoyed our first little installment of this new story of ours and wait patiently for the next arc.**

 **Nameless: Patience will be rewarded. We're publishing this fic, arc by arc, as we finish them. So see you when we see you.**

 **Now smash that review button, no flames, and peace off my peeps!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Five: Spider in a Bottle**

 **Beta:**

* * *

"You really are a Meathead."

Namikaze's words were as sharp as ever and left Mikoto wincing in her hospital bed. Neither she nor Kuroko had been too badly hurt, but the doctors had wanted to be sure they alright and so insisted that they stay overnight for observation. The Chibi had come to visit them and was currently sitting in a nearby chair, critiquing what they'd done.

Depressed, the [Railgun] didn't reply to the Number 2's disparaging assessment.

She didn't want to put much stock into what Saten had said during their fight. That such a gap existed within the Level 5s, but this fight had proved it.

She balled her fist in frustration.

"It was a difficult situation!" Kuroko objected, but it did little for Mikoto's bruised pride.

"I told you it was a mind game, Uiharu-chan seemed to be the only one to get that."

"Well maybe if you were less cryptic…"

"I was clear as day. In your little scuffle, what chance did you think you had considering what resolve Saten-chan had? Considering what her main objective was, she clearly was _not_ going to back down."

Scuffle? Saten had told them that if they even wanted a chance at winning, they would have needed Namikaze. Since they hadn't then to her the whole thing was probably more like a distraction at best.

It was a bitter pill to swallow to learn that in spite of how hard she worked to reach Level 5, Mikoto was still so far behind her own kohai.

Namikaze stood up, giving them both a parting glance. "Feel better, text me when you're out. Also, try not to bother the Senseis with your lovey dovey time!"

She blinked away in a teleport, leaving a red faced and sputtering Mikoto in her wake.

"W-What?!"

Kuroko giggled perversely.

"Don't even try it!" Mikoto warned as she released a handful of sparks for emphasis.

* * *

"I can't believe I'm even suggesting this," Kuroko said with a exasperated sigh when they were discharged later that day. "But Onee-sama, if you're really spoiling for a fight then how about beating on some Skill-Out lowlifes? That usually cheers you up."

"You're suggesting that like you have a specific group in mind." Mikoto observed as they walked back to their dorm together.

"Nothing of the sort." Kuroko said evasively. "All I'm saying is that if you must let off some steam, then I wouldn't mind if you directed that frustration at that Big Spider gang."

"They've been causing Judgement trouble?"

Kuroko nodded. "They've been quite the nuisance lately, at least that's what I can tell from the latest reports. There have been no less than a dozen reports of them ganging up on Espers and mugging them recently."

Mikoto balled her fists as sparks arced from her forehead. "They're just jumping random Espers?"

"Pretty much."

"Then I think I'll be paying them a visit." The [Railgun] confidently declared. "I'm not about to sit back and do nothing when a bunch of thugs goes around causing trouble for innocent people."

Kuroko just smiled at Mikoto's restored mood.

* * *

Naru hummed as she strolled over to the entrance of the Academy City headquarters of the Vishkar Apparel Company, whose swimsuit division her roommate Awatsuki had roped her in to help model for. Awaiting her in the entrance lobby was Awatsuki, along with a small group of others - which interestingly enough included her friends - that her roommate invited.

"Yo!" Naru greeted with a wave as she jogged over to the group.

"What's the Chibi doing here?" Misaka-sempai asked, as Naru walked up to the group.

"The same reason Kongou-san is." Awatsuki replied easily with a smile. "We invited them along too."

"Yup yup." Naru confirmed. "So don't worry your pretty little head, Sempai. There isn't any nefarious reason behind me being here."

"I didn't say there was!" The Electromaster said defensively, even crossing her arms as she did so. "I was just curious."

"So you say~" Naru singsonged teasingly.

"Namikaze-san." Awatsuki said in a soft chiding voice. "Aren't you going to greet everyone else?"

"Ah, Wannai-chan, nice to see you again." Wannai Kinuho, a girl with short wavy brown hair, ocean blue eyes and a relatively large bust nodded back in greeting. She was Awatsuki's best friend and fellow swim team member. Thus she was someone who Naru had met quite a few times.

"You too, Kongou-chan."

Kongou Mitsuko was the heiress to the very successful Kongou Airlines and a recent transfer to Tokiwadai. She was a close friend of both Awatsuki and Wannai, so her presence here was not unexpected.

She had the appearance of a traditional yamato nadeshiko with long, well kept black hair, two fringes that flanked her forehead and an attractive, well endowed figure. She was as usual carrying her antique folding fan.

Naru would sometimes see the girls in her room when Awatsuki would invite them over. They were nice, even if Kongou was an over the top ojou-sama. It was great fun to tease her though.

"Salutations, Namikaze-san." Kongou replied in the overly formal way she often used.

"Hi Konori-sempai. Hi everyone else." Naru said in greeting to the rest of the girls.

"Everyone else? Is that what we've been reduced to?" Shirai muttered under her breath. Uiharu just looked at her Judgement partner with exasperation while Saten just shook her head while sporting an amused little smile.

 _Damn. Saten really is thawing quite a bit, isn't she?_

 _ **Looks like.**_ Naru's pet demon replied unnecessarily to her rhetorical question before snoring loudly and going back to sleep.

 _Nobody asked you, you somnophilic busybody._

"Oh my, coming in such a large group." Kongou noted with amusement. "I hadn't expected there would be so many of us."

"Yeah, well we didn't expect you to show up dressed like that. What are you doing here in that getup, anyway?" Shirai asked her fellow Level 4, who was dressed in a very fetching yellow kimono, with a raised eyebrow. "Have you perhaps forgotten the school policy that you must wear your uniform even on days off?"

"Hm hm hm, I'm not a Tokiwadai student today." Kongou said as she snapped her fan open, "I came as a model."

Awatsuki and Wannai both exchanged an exasperated look at that.

"So did I, but I didn't change out of my uniform." Naru teased the girl, mischief in her eyes.

"Which is a shame since you have such wonderful apparel in your room. A crime one could say!"

"Right!" Wannai said in a slightly raised voice as she took control of the situation. "So now that the greetings are out of the way-"

Awatsuki continued from there.

"Let me just say that on behalf of the Swimming Club we would both like to thank you Misaka-sama for helping us out with this." At this both Awatsuki and Wannai offered the Number 5 a bow. "Not only did you volunteer, you even got your friends to help."

"It was nothing." Misaka-sempai said while rubbing the back of her neck.

"That's not true." Awatsuki insisted. "I mean you even got Konori-san to help us fill the high schooler spot the company wanted, even when we couldn't find any alumni to help out."

"Well, I'm just glad I could be of help."

"Likewise." Konori-sempai said with a smile to the two swimmers.

"Since everyone is here, I'll go call the Vishkar rep." Wannai said as she ran off to do just that.

As everyone just milled around waiting for Wannai to get back, Awatsuki came over to Naru and flashed her a smile. "You've really started to change."

Naru squinted her eyes in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"You know, when I first found out I was rooming with you, I got really nervous." Awatsuki laughed, before smiling in that sweet way she often did. "I mean, here I am, hanging out with a Level 5! I didn't know what you were like, but you were friendly and cheerful right from the get-go. Even if it felt a bit forced. You never talked much about yourself and never truly bothered to hang out with people that weren't in your Faction."

"What about Misaki-sempai?" Naru argued.

"[The Queen] doesn't count. Not for this. I meant people you spent time with just to have fun. Not someone you talked to because of school politics. Your friendship with Misaki-sama always seemed more like a business relationship to be honest."

The Level 3 looked towards Misaka and the rest. "I think spending time with them? Inch by inch, you're coming out of your shell." She flashed her another bright smile. "And I think that's wonderful."

Naru felt stumped, she looked back to the others, confusion settling in her heart over the matter.

The fact that Saten - the damn eavesdropper - shot her a thumbs up in seeming agreement to what Awatsuki said, didn't help her bewilderment in the slightest.

The blonde was still thinking about what Awatsuki had said when Wannai returned a couple minutes later with the company rep who proceeded to escort them to the changing room.

 _Was what she said, right?_

 _ **Sage knows.**_ A confused sounding Kurama chimed in. _**What did she say anyway? And who is this "she"?**_

 _Oh shut up and go back to sleep._

* * *

They walked into the changing room and saw rows upon rows of swimsuits of high quality and taste.

"Now then, please choose any swimsuit you like." The woman who was the Vishkar rep said to them while gesturing to the racks of swimwear.

"Okay!" Everyone cheered.

Everyone broke into little groups as they looked around for a suit that caught their fancy.

It didn't take long for Mikoto to find a really cute suit that she liked.

It was a light pink frilly two piece with random colored polka dots all over.

Her admiration of the garment hadn't gone unnoticed though as Uiharu and Saten strolled over to have a look at what had got her attention.

"That's cute, isn't it?" Saten said, in an encouraging voice. Idly Mikoto noted that she pulled it off quite well, even if it still sounded a little mechanical.

"It is! The frills look great!" Uiharu chimed in.

Mikoto looked between them and blushed, "Ah, that's not it…" She mumbled, "I didn't want to wear this."

Saten smirked slyly. "I want to see Misaka-sempai in this swimsuit!"

"Me too, please try it on." Uiharu added.

"Eh!" Mikoto blushed further, "But it's really a bit…" she tried to argue.

"It'll definitely be cute!" Uiharu urged.

"R-Really?" Mikoto asked with a happy look, only to receive a pair of heartfelt nods. "Well if you insist…"

Just as Mikoto was about to head to the changing rooms with the suit, Konori-sempai walked by and glanced over.

"Misaka-san, you're a fan of some pretty childish designs, huh?" She asked curiously.

Saten turned to shoot Konori-sempai a cross look, before replying frostily. "So she does. Is that a problem?"

Konori-sempai was taken aback by the response and was about to say something when Misaka cut in.

"Th-That's not true!" She said as she placed the childish suit back and grabbed a one piece and held it up proudly, "I'm going with this one! Time to change!"

As Mikoto rushed into the safety of a stall, she heard both Uiharu and Saten sigh.

"What?" A concerned and surprised sounding Konori-sempai asked, "Did I do something?"

* * *

It took about ten minutes but even as Maaya stepped out of her stall, she found herself one of the first few to have finished changing. Besides herself, only Saten-sama, Kinuho-chan and Uiharu-san were ready.

Maaya herself and Uiharu-san had both picked one pieces. The bluenette's was a blue and black affair, while the Judgement agent had chosen something in yellow that had a skirt and red flower patterns.

Kinuho-chan and Saten-sama in contrast had chosen two pieces. Kinuho-chan had gone for a standard set in green that was accented by orange straps. Saten-sama had chosen a white set which she had accessorised with a matching blue sarong.

Uiharu-san wiggled around a bit with her hands together. A blush spread across her face. "It's a bit embarrassing…"

Saten-sama just placed her hands on her best friend's shoulders, in the process stopping her fidgeting. "Uiharu, relax. We're all girls here, there's nothing to be shy about."

Deciding it was only right to back up her schoolmate, Maaya tilted her head and smiled. "It suits you."

Uiharu-san brightened, happiness ringing clear in her voice as she replied, "Really?"

Kinuho-chan answered her with a warm smile. "With bikinis, the focal points are split between the top and bottom, but with a one piece your curves show, so they only suit slim people."

"Oh, as expected of a swim team member, you sure know your stuff." Misaka-sama commented in slight awe as she walked up in a dark blue athletic one piece with yellow trimmings.

"Do you have any other advice for choosing swimsuits?" Saten-sama asked in interest. "I still have to get a new one."

"You still haven't gotten one?" Misaka-sama asked, sounding exasperated. "It's been days since you said you needed it."

"I've been busy." Saten-sama shot back defensively.

"Oh." Misaka-sama said as if that explained everything. "I'm sorry."

 _What are they talking about, I wonder._ Maaya mused, her curiosity peaked. _Level Upper? Better not ask, just in case. I don't want to bring up something unpleasant._

"Let's see…" Kinuho-chan said quickly in a transparent bid to redirect the conversation, looking at Saten-sama as she did. "For example, sarongs are stylish, and they are also useful for hiding your lower body."

Everyone eyed Saten-sama as if she was hiding something under her sarong.

"I'm not trying to hide anything!"

"Hey so how about mine? Does it suit me?" Namikaze-san asked as she joined the girls in a rust orange colored one piece with black trim. Unlike the others' choices though, her one piece featured a cut out over her navel. Her natural sun-kissed skin and western blood made her look like a regular at a Mediterranean beach.

"Stylish. Very stylish." Maaya complemented. "As expected of a model."

Any further conversation was stifled by the opening of Shirai-san's curtain and the teleporter walking out in a swimsuit that left everyone speechless.

"Sorry for the wait!" Shirai-san announced. No one replied though, they were still too shocked by what she had chosen.

It was a purple string bikini that was so short that it seemed to have been designed to only cover the absolute minimum needed to preserve her modesty.

"I was a bit disappointed they only had reserved designs." She said as she played with the stringy thing and walked up to them, "But I guess this is all you can expect from ready-made clothes." The twintail haired girl stated as she looked herself over, but turned to see everyone staring at her.

"How do I put it…" Saten-sama muttered shooting Uiharu-san an uncertain look, clearly asking for some help from her best friend.

Said best friend however could only sigh in resignation and comment that it was, "As expected of Shirai-san…"

"Individuality is important!" Kinuho-chan tried to say encouragingly as she clapped her hands.

"Yeah…" Maaya managed to weakly add.

"Trying to seduce Misaka-sempai huh?" Namikaze-san teasingly observed.

Shirai-san didn't even bother acknowledging them, instead going right ahead to proving the blonde Level 5 correct. She started to wiggle her body provocatively with one hand behind her head and the other on her hip, "This probably doesn't fulfill your desires, but please bear with it Onee-sama."

Misaka-sama sweat-dropped and waved her off. "No, I've had more than enough thank you."

"Oh my, is that all you've got everyone?" The voice of Kongou-san asked as everyone turned to face her only to tense up in shock and edge away from her. Well, almost everyone at least. Uiharu-san and Namikaze-san just got excited instead.

She was wearing a very exotic red one piece, but that wasn't what had everyone startled. _That_ honor went to the large snake wrapped around her with a red bow on its head.

"Take a look." Kongou-san said, oblivious to the response her pet was getting.

"Sexy and exotic!" She purred, "This is the extreme swimsuit model the audience is seeking!"

"A snake!" Almost everyone screamed, while Namikaze-san and Uiharu-san went forward to pet the reptile affectionately.

"She's called Ekaterina-chan."

"Ah, Ekaterina-san!" Uiharu-san said as she gave it another pet.

"Nice name." Namikaze-san complimented. "And a nice pick for the suit."

"Uiharu get back from that thing, it's dangerous." Saten-sama warned while clutching a blade of silvery gray metal that she'd conjured from thin air.

"Oh calm down, [Multi-Skill]." Namikaze-san chided as the python tickled her cheek with its tongue. "Ekaterina is perfectly tame."

"Still-"

Any potential violence was averted when the last member of their group made her appearance. Konori Mii was dressed in a white bikini with black polka-dots and frills. An outfit that showed off her figure.

And what an impressive figure it was.

In the face of her truly amazing bust all the girls couldn't help but do a quick comparison with their own and give defeated sighs.

The high schooler shot them all a confused look, but they waved it away as nothing. No one was willing to admit to their feeling of inadequacy when stacked up against a true bishoujo.

"Is everyone ready?" The company rep asked as she came in, just as the tension in the room was starting to rise.

At everyone's nod, she smiled and continued. "Then follow me."

* * *

Everyone entered a large white room with a cubic pattern on the walls and ceiling.

"There's nothing here…" Misaka-sempai pointed out.

"Are we taking the pictures here?" Uiharu asked the female representative, a hint of confusion in her voice.

The woman just smiled and held out a remote. After a few clicks, the room changed into a tropical beach.

Nearly everyone had a look of awe on their faces, well everyone but Naru and Saten. Though even they sported impressed looks.

The woman clicked the remote once more and the area changed to the Vegas strip. "This studio can recreate all sorts of scenarios." She said as it changed to a mountain setting, a classroom, and finally back to the beach.

"Wow." Naru said in surprise. "I didn't think an apparel company would have one of these."

"The Vishkar Corporation isn't just limited to our Apparel subsidiary," The company woman explained. "This particular 'holodeck' as some of my colleagues call it, is used by multiple divisions of the company."

The blonde cocked a brow. "And your division managed to book a slot on this state of the art, even by Academy City standards, facility?"

"You've seen this before, Namikaze-san?" Uiharu asked with a inquisitive tilt of her head.

Naru gave a positive nod and assumed a lecturing pose. Her left hand holding her right elbow and her right hand pointed in the air.

"Yep! I practice my powers in rooms like this all the time. They are great in creating simulated environments to train in. Thanks to its use of hard light constructs and advanced climate control it can duplicate practically any place you can think of."

"I didn't think something like this was even possible." Konori-sempai observed. "Not even for Academy City."

"Yeah," Misaka-sempai agreed. "I'd thought something like this was something that I'd only see in Sci-Fi."

"Welcome to Academy City, where Sci-Fi is reality."

"Ha-Ha." Her sempai gave a mock laugh at the blonde's cheeky reply.

"Joking aside, I do think it's kinda extravagant to use this just for a photo shoot." Naru pointed out.

The company rep looked ready to respond, but Saten beat her to it.

"As the lady said, other divisions use it too. Besides, I'd bet that they loan it out for training and experiments too."

"I would assume that film studios line up for the chance to shoot here too." Uiharu guessed.

The Vishkar rep just smiled. "You are correct on both counts. We maximize the use of the holodeck as much as possible."

"Makes sense I guess." Naru shrugged as she looked around. "So where's the camera guy? Or are we doing this automatically?"

"Ah, I hadn't thought about that." Wannai said as the issue of the cameraman dawned on her.

Konori rubbed her arm. "I kind of knew, but it's still a bit…"

Kongou smirked haughtily as she snapped her fan open. "How amateurish! Models only shine when they're on display."

"It's all done entirely automatically." The woman reassured. "There's little chance you'll even see the camera, so please act naturally."

"Eh?"

"What she means is that there are concealed cameras scattered all over the room." Saten explained even as she pointed out random spots throughout the projected beachscape.

The woman shook her head in amusement. "Indeed. Though I had not expected any of you to have been able to identify the cameras. I should have."

"If it's any consolation." Misaka-sempai chimed in. "We probably all could with a little effort, we just didn't bother. Saten is just paranoid."

"Totally." Naru said in total agreement.

Saten gave a disgruntled sigh, which earned her a consoling pat on the shoulder from Uiharu, but didn't dispute the accusation.

"Well," the amused older woman said as she watched the scene. "Does anyone have any more questions?"

The group just shook their heads in the negative.

"If that's the case, then I'll take my leave. Enjoy yourselves, girls."

With those parting words the lady left the girls to their own devices.

Taking the woman's departure as her cue, Naru used her wind powers to undo the ribbons holding her pigtails, thereby allowing her golden tresses to fall and sway in the artificial breeze.

"Let's have some fun people!" She declared while pumping her fist in the air, earning a cheer from everyone.

* * *

A little over two hours later, the Vishkar company rep returned alongside a office lady who was pushing in a trolley.

"Hello girls, enjoying yourselves so far?" The woman greeted with a smile.

She was met with a chorus of mostly positive replies. Misaka-sempai being the only exception. She was still grouchy over being soaked by Naru with a super soaker that they the blonde had discovered had been left in the room, likely as a prop for the shoot.

"Well, it's time for lunch." At this she gestured to her colleague who proceeded to lift a lid that had been obscuring what had been on the trolley, which quickly revealed itself to be a wide assortment of fresh ingredients.

At the same time, the environment of the holodeck transformed into that of a campsite, one which included a shed that housed an outdoor kitchen.

"These are some leftovers from a cooking show that booked the holodeck yesterday." The woman said sounding a little embarrassed. "We thought you might prefer to cook something yourself as part of the experience rather than provide you with some packed lunches."

 _Or your bosses just thought this was an easy way to save some money._ Naru deduced dryly.

"The kitchen is another hard light construction," the uneasy woman continued, clearly unhappy with the set-up. "So there's no running water or gas, but we've provided you with camping stoves and some bottled water. So go ahead and use those."

Without waiting for a reply, the woman and her colleague beat a hasty retreat.

The girls exchanged shocked looks at this. All of them clearly surprised that a company which could afford a holodeck would skimp out on providing them with a proper lunch.

"She says go ahead, but what should we do?" Saten asked after a long moment of stunned silence, picking up one of the mess tins that they had been provided as she did so.

Cupping her chin and supporting her elbow with her other hand, Konori-sempai examined the ingredients provided to them. "With just these ingredients and in this situation…It's gotta be curry!"

"Curry?" Naru frowned at the mention of the dish that was so wildly popular with the Japanese. "Can't we try something else?"

"Have something against curry, Chibi?" Misaka-sempai pressed with amusement.

"No! I'm just saying we have a whole slew of ingredients. And Saten-chan can probably get us some amazing recipes for something else."

"Don't feel like it." Saten replied as she looked over the ingredients. "I'm all for curry."

Kongou huffed and waved her hand. "I agree with Namikaze-san. Why curry? It's a commoners' meal."

Saten actually looked offended. "Because it's delicious."

"Don't you like curry?" Uiharu asked the fan wielding girl.

"She just doesn't know how to make it, right?" Shirai suggested slyly.

Kongou flushed brightly. "Of course I can! I'll have you know the Kongou family has an ultimate secret curry! It will blow your pallet away!"

 _Heh, sounds like hot air to me._ Naru smiled in amusement. She'd be surprised if Kongou even knew how to use a rice cooker, much less know how to cook anything.

"Eh? Sounds exciting. I'd love to try it." Misaka-sempai said, making Kongou's face stiffen nervously.

 _Called it._

"How about we just focus on making our own dishes so we have some variety?" Naru suggested to save Kongou some face.

"T-That sounds fair." Kongou agreed as she snapped her fan closed in front of her face.

"If that's the case, let's split up the rice and curry preparation." Konori-sempai said, taking charge of the situation.

With that the group split up. Kongou, Awatsuki-chan and Wannai-chan went off to make Kongou's supposed secret family recipe, only to return not long afterwards empty handed.

Uiharu and Saten took charge of preparing the rice. They quickly discovered that the camp stoves they'd been provided didn't work.

 _As if Vishkar wasn't cheapskate enough already._

However, Saten had just shrugged and simply used an amped up version of Uiharu's Thermal Hand ability to do the cooking. The Level 1 helping out by using her own power to help regulate the temperature as need be as well.

Naru herself had tried to go for the position of taste tester, that was until her mean [Railgun]-sempai forced her to prep all the ingredients. It was easy, but she still found it annoying. She was here to relax, not work!

At least she showed Misaka-sempai and Shirai-san up by conjuring a whole set of chakra blades and proceeding to finish all the cutting in a blur of frenzied movement. Leaving them nothing to do by stare at her in awe.

 _ **Yeah right.**_ Her furry tenant snorted, but Naru just ignored him.

Throughout all this, Konori-sempai was working on her curry dutifully.

In the end, after a little over half an hour of hard work, the group of girls were able to enjoy a wonderful meal together.

 _I guess it wasn't so bad in the end. Cooking together with everyone was actually fun._

Lunch marked the end to the modeling job and after cleaning up and changing back into their own clothes, the group went their separate ways.

Awatsuki-chan was heading back to their dorm and had asked if Naru wanted to go home together, but the Level 5 had declined.

She had one last appointment for the day to keep.

* * *

"Honestly Naru-chan! How could you do this to me? The Tokiwadai Trinity? I'm hurt! Offended! I nearly cried myself to sleep!" A girl whined as she sat across from Naru at a fancy wrought iron table. The table was set up for a tea party, with sugary treats of the highest caliber laid out on various serving trays and the wonderful aroma of tea leaves in the air.

"Sorry Misaki-sempai, it just happened. Can't change it now." Naru shrugged as she took a moment to sip her tea.

"Hmph! A pitiful excuse. I think our relationship ability is going down." Said the Number Seven Level 5, Shokuhou Misaki, otherwise known as [Mental Out], the most powerful telepath in Academy City.

Her sempai was without question an elegant beauty. Sporting long straight golden hair much like Naru's own. Her distinctive eyes were of the same color with irises that were oddly shaped like a star. One would say it was her second most eye catching quality, next to her bountiful bosom that is. Being a Tokiwadai student herself, she was clad in the school's uniform as all its students were expected to most of the time. She had however added her own touch to the outfit in the form of lacy white gloves and stockings and a shoulder bag adorned with a clasp in the shape of a star.

"Now don't say that, you'll hurt my feelings." Naru said with a trembling bottom lip.

Misaki-sempai pointed her remote control at her fellow blonde. "Then know my pain!"

"You do remember that your powers don't work on me, right?" The blue eyed blonde said as she rolled her eyes.

The older girl just pouted.

"You know," Naru continued, unaffected by her companion's display. "If you're going to whine so much, maybe you should try to get out more and go spend time with the other Level 5s."

Her sempai scoffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "As if I want to waste my social power by being around that boring [Mult-Skill] or the brutish [Railgun]. I do have standards."

"Glad to know where I place."

"Still," Misaki-sempai pursed her lips as she put her remote down and stirred her tea thoughtfully. "I don't know why you and that Meathead are such good friends with [The Robot]. The two of you are even going as far as to stand up for her after the Level Upper incident."

At the older girl's sour face, Naru understood. There were those in the Queen Faction that had used Level Upper. The socialite felt offended and annoyed at both Saten and her own followers. The former for setting up the network in the first place and the latter for being big enough idiots to use it.

"You're still cross with her because some of your followers got caught up in the Incident too, aren't you?"

"I'm getting over it." [Mental Out] waved off as she took a bite of a cookie. "I'm also upset that that girl has yet another ridiculous application of her already overpowered power!"

"Says the girl whose power has so many applications she needs to set limits on herself to use it properly at all." Naru countered easily. The Number 7's powers were so versatile that she did not have stable control of it and had to create 'boundaries' for herself. 'Boundaries' that she had established by using remotes as foci of sorts for her ability. Without them she was as helpless as your average Level 0.

"My brain ability is nothing to sneeze at, but I still find her abilities ridiculous." Her sempai said with a pout as she finished her cookie.

"Just don't force the issue. I'm not going to pick sides if you two get into a scuffle." The Number 2 told the girl as she took a bite out of a cupcake.

"You'd abandon me?! Another hurtful slight!"

"Saten-chan's too annoying to fight."

The older blonde hummed as she stroked her chin. "You bring up a fair point. Very well, I'll let it go."

Naru smirked.

"Don't look smug, I have something else to discuss with you." She said while holding up her teacup, one of the dozen of her followers who had been dutifully standing by while the two Level 5s talked, came over and grabbed the china tea pot and refilled her cup.

"About?"

"A group of neanderthals. Skill-Outs who call themselves 'Big Spider'."

Naru glanced at her sempai. _A web maker talking about spiders, funny._

The Number 7 pouted at her, starry eyes narrowed. "You're thinking something unpleasant again, aren't you?"

"Read my mind?"

Misaki-sempai huffed and leaned back in her seat. "You know I can't read your mind. Your expression told me all I needed to know."

"How careless of me."

"Indeed. Now back on topic, these Skill-Outs are targeting Espers. Normally, they wouldn't be such a problem to those with powers, but that's the snag. They have some kind of sound based device that disrupts Esper powers."

Naru's eyes narrowed for a second, something her Sempai had said having caught her attention.

Taking note of Naru's expression, [Mental Out] shot her a curious look. "Have an idea of what it is?"

"I might have a clue about what system they're using. I have to check though."

"Keep me informed."

"You're worried?"

Misaki-sempai let out a giggle. "Please, like this would worry me. I'm just curious."

"Alright," Naru stood up after finishing her tea. "I better get on top of this. Thanks for the snacks, Sempai."

[Mental Out] waved her away, all the while eying her suspiciously.

 _She's definitely caught on that I know more about this than I'm telling her._ Naru noted.

She just hoped her Sempai's curiosity didn't lead her to interfere in some way.

Now that would be a pain to have to deal with.

* * *

Mugino Shizuri, the Number Six Level 5, [Meltdowner] and leader of the Dark Side team ITEM was a tall and slender but well endowed young woman with soft tea-colored hair. This combined with her knack for stylish clothing, made her look like a model.

Due to her trendy appearance, she was quite out of place where she was now. For she was currently waiting in a dark alley in a forgotten part of the City alongside her team for a meeting with an information broker. Normally, this would be a task reserved for their handlers or some other flunkie, but this broker was in possession of some vital intelligence that ITEM needed for an upcoming job and had demanded that she meet the team, all four of them, in person before she was willing to hand it over.

"This is super boring!" Kinuhata Saiai complained. She was a young girl of twelve with short brown hair in a bobcut. More importantly in Mugino's opinion was the fact that she served as the team's tank, a role she was well suited for thanks to her Level 4 ability, Offense Armor. It allowed Saiai to control the nitrogen in the air and use it to create a thin barrier around her that protected her from all but the most powerful of direct attacks.

"When is the stupid broker going to show up, anyways?"

"Well, we are a little early." A girl with blonde hair and blue eyes replied. She was dressed in a black sailor top, a pleated skirt, a pair of pumps, dark-colored pantyhose and a dark-colored beret. This was Frenda Seivelun, the team's weapons specialist. While an esper in her own right, the European girl preferred the use of various weapons to her own powers and had quite the expertise in them.

"Frenda is right," Takitsubo Rikou, ITEM's final member and tracker chimed in tiredly, as she so often was. She had black hair that was cut evenly at shoulder length and was wearing that pink track suit of hers, the one that Mugino swore she never took off.

"You should calm do-"

Rikou, the normally expressionless girl, suddenly froze mid-sentence and broke out into a nervous sweat, her eyes wide as saucers. "Oh no. We have a problem."

"What is it?" Shizuri demanded. "Is it an ambus-"

"For a covert group, you're very loud." A voice in the darkness stated.

All of ITEM tensed, except for Rikou, who started to take steps back, looking like a frightened animal looking for cover.

"Hello, [AIM Stalker]." The still unseen voice greeted. "I take it you sensed my AIM field?"

"It's the biggest in the city, kinda hard to miss." Rikou admitted timidly.

Mugino felt ice flood her veins at hearing that. She knew who Rikou was talking about now, and it was most definitely not someone she wanted to meet while on the Dark Side. Even if she herself was a Level 5, facing the [Army Slayer] with just her team was suicidal.

Her team paled, all quickly realizing just who they were dealing with.

Stepping out of the shadows into the dim light available in the alley, Saten Ruiko eyed ITEM with thinly veiled amusement.

"So easily spooked." [Multi-Skill] said with a shake of her head. "And you call yourselves Dark Siders?"

Unable to allow an insult to her pride like that go, Mugino pushed aside her fear.

"What are you doing here, [AIM Sovereign]?"

"To pass on the intel that your bosses are paying me for." The Tokiwadai student responded unfazed by Mugino's hostility.

"You're the info broker?" Mugino asked incredulously.

Saten just nodded.

[Melterdowner] did a quick review of everything she knew about the Number 3 and quickly realised there was only one reason why the girl had returned to the Dark Side. As the realization set in, she began to laugh.

Clearly figuring out what had set her off, Saten sent her a withering glare. Something which had her teammates all backing away and eying the both of them warily.

"You're doing this to get your mother out of prison, aren't you?" Mugino asked with a demented grin on her face after she'd finally calmed down.

"I won't deny it." The younger Level 5 freely admitted.

 _Tch. At least get defensive about it._

Mugino was about to keep trying to get a rise out of the Number 3 but was interrupted by Frenda.

"Is [Manforce] here too? I mean, you're partners now right?" The blonde asked as she looked around nervously.

"I don't sense her." Rikou informed them from her cover behind a dumpster.

[Multi-Skill] shook her head. "We are not partners. We are friends."

Frenda paled and started to shake in fright.

"Friends?!" Shizuri looked outright flat footed at the notion. "That lunatic? She doesn't have friends. She has toys that she plays with for her amusement. I didn't think someone like _you_ of all people would mix up those concepts."

"I disagree, but I'm not going to bother trying to convince you." Number 3 said with a frown. "Now are we doing this deal or not? I have places I'd rather be."

Shizuri nodded and gestured to Saiai to hand over the briefcase full of money, Saten's payment, to the Tokiwadai student.

Accepting the briefcase and without even bothering to open it to check that the money was all there, the higher ranked Level 5 nodded and passed a data drive over to Saiai.

"Everything appears in order." The Number 3 said as Saiai backed away from her as quickly as she could. "Before I go, let me just give you a little extra bit of intel. My good deed for the day as it were."

 _Number 3 doing a good deed? I'll see it before I believe it._ Shizuri thought to herself as she snorted dismissively at the mere suggestion.

Saten didn't pay the skepticism that ITEM's leader displayed any mind though and just continued speaking. "Be careful of 'Big Spider', they have something troublesome even for Level 5s."

 _What the hell is Big Spider?_

Having apparently said her piece, Saten Ruiko teleported away. As she disappeared, Frenda fell to her knees with relief.

"Mugino! Don't taunt that monster! I'm too young to die!"

"Shut up!" [Meltdowner] snapped, trying to rally her nerve to not follow the blonde's example. She might have managed to push aside her fear earlier to heckle the other Level 5 as a show of strength, but now that she was gone reality was sinking in again. She had been one wrong insult away from being reduced to a bloody stain on the ground.

Saiai raised her hand. "Can we super get out of here now?"

Shizuri gave a stiff nod and ITEM fled from the scene.

* * *

"You're yanking my pigtails." Naru said dryly through the facecam on her phone. On the other end was the Superintendent himself. "The Anglican Church? I thought the Magic and Science sides were still nipping at each others' butts?"

It was late at night and Naru was currently perched atop the roof of her dorm. She decided it was the best place for this private conversation.

"For the most part, that is true." Aleister Crowley agreed. "However, a series of events have taken place recently that has led to this alliance."

"What events?"

The upside down man -He adamantly refused to rotate his image to make himself look normal even on a video call- began to explain about how the Anglican Church's Index Librorum Prohibitorum had got herself and the Church tangled up with [Imagine Breaker].

"So [Imagine Breaker] got mind wiped? As if he wasn't a heartbreaker already. Sempai's going to cry." Naru snickered.

"Perhaps." Aleister said with a smirk. "Though more importantly this has resulted in the Index coming under the protection of [Imagine Breaker]. Since this means she will be residing in the City, the Anglicans reached out to us to form an alliance to ensure that she's kept safe."

Naru nodded. She could see why Aleister had accepted. Having a major magical power like the Anglican Church on their side would strengthen them greatly, especially against other magic side groups. Which was probably one of the reasons why Aleister had allowed everything to happen as they did.

After all, nothing in the CIty happened unless Aleister _wanted_ it to happen, especially not something as high profile as this. There was no way that walking magical library and those two other agents of the Anglican Church could have gotten into to the City otherwise.

"Why leave her with Kamijou though? I'm sure we have more secure facilities." The blonde pointed out, only to see Aleister smile. "Unless you want him to get involved in some crazy magic stuff that is...You're preparing him for something."

At her keen observation, her sponsor nodded. "Exactly."

With how vital [Imagine Breaker] was to Aleister's plans? This sudden development? It could only mean that major changes were coming.

Most importantly, these changes were to push forward whatever big plans the Superintendent had.

Naru would admit, she was not privy to most of the details to whatever the wicked genius that was known as Aleister Crowley had in mind, but the blonde knew more than most. So it wasn't exactly difficult to read the signs. She was observant like that. The man had trained her to be.

It was why she could see how all these little events were linking together to form a bigger picture. Just what that picture was still alluded her though, she'd need more information before she could pin that down.

"So what do you want me to do? Play nice nice and all that? I don't have to keep an eye on them do I? Tsuchimikado better not call for backup because his workload is increasing." Naru released a yawn and started to rub her eye.

"No, only if something extreme happens would you have to get involved. I just wanted to inform you so you don't attack our new allies if you see them in the City."

"Can I annoy the hell out of them?"

"So long as that doesn't lead to too much property damage. I do not want to hear more complaints in regards to that tied to you. There are enough of those as is." The magician said with a smirk.

"I'm not that bad!" Naru puffed up her cheeks in anger. "Anyway, have I told you that you are just the best boss ever? I can't wait to see how these Magicians tick."

"I'm sure you will find someway to get your jollies from them no matter how they are." He replied with amusement, before growing serious. "I will send you their files in the morning."

"Thanks, I'll look through them." Naru said with a salute. "So mind answering a question of mine?"

Aleister narrowed his eyes in silent warning. "That depends on the question. Ask and we shall see."

Naru smiled knowing that the Superintendent offering even that was proof of just how much he trusted her. Being in the confidence of the most powerful man on the Science side was something to be proud of, and Naru was most definitely proud of that fact.

"So I'm curious about why you needed that data on Saten-chan's Angel Mode thing anyway?"

"Hmm." Aleister said consideringly for a minute before properly replying. "I need it for some research on AIM lifeforms."

"AIM lifeforms? Do they exist?"

"Not yet." Aleister said before giving her a mysterious smile.

 _So he's using the data to help him create a AIM lifeform? What for?_

The Level 5 knew better than to ask though, Crowley's smile was a clear indication that he would say no more on this issue.

 _Time to let it go._ The blonde though with a sigh. _Too bad. Well, it's getting late anyway._

"Anything else? I'm tired." Naru said with a yawn.

"There is one last thing." Her superior said as Naru itched to end the call. "It appears that the shinobi are once more out and about. As their primary target, you need to be wary of them."

Naru snorted at the suggestion that she needed to worry about those fools. "Like I'd need to. They aren't a real threat."

"Do not underestimate them." Crowley warned.

"Yes sir." Naru drawled insincerely.

The magician just rolled his eyes at her attitude but didn't pursue the matter. Instead with a final admonishment for her to "Get some sleep.", he ended the call.

Yawning once more, Naru put away her phone and headed back to her room. It was getting late and she had a full day of investigating to do tomorrow.

 _Hopefully I can clear this Big Spider thing up quickly. I really don't like playing detective._

* * *

"So everything is going smoothly?" Kuroko asked Uiharu, who nodded happily. The two of them were taking a break from their duties at the 177th Branch and were chatting about the aftermath of the Level Upper Incident.

"Yes, the Special Workshop for the victims went well."

"I wish they would just call it a punishment like it is." Kuroko confessed with a shake of her head. "While I do feel sympathy for some, most were Skill-Outs and other rabble trying to get a cheap boost."

Uiharu fidgeted at that, uncomfortable at how Kuroko had described the Level Upper victims. She was right though and her partner was being too much of a bleeding heart to acknowledge that.

"Saten-san wanted to go there and apologize to them." The computer wiz said, changing the subject. "Thankfully Yomikawa-sensei and I managed to talk her out of it."

Kuroko gave her a dry look. "There would have been a riot if she did."

Uiharu shuddered. "That's what Yomikawa-sensei said too."

"How is the the Big Spider case going?" Kuroko said as a means to shift the subject away from Saten-san. Uiharu could get weird when talking about her, oddly overprotective at times and at others sad. Kuroko really didn't want to deal with that. Not at the moment at least. It would ruin their break.

The flower wearing girl frowned and scooted over to her personal computer. Kuroko wheeling towards her to get a closer look.

With a couple of keystrokes, the case file was up on the screen. "Their activity has skyrocketed lately, we have over a dozen in the hospital from the beatings. And that's just in the past few days!"

Kuroko's fist tightened. "The question is how these Skill-Outs are stopping the Espers from using their powers. From what the conscious victims told us, it was as if their abilities weren't responding correctly. But what caused that, we still have no clue."

"And that's the problem for us in Judgement, who are mostly composed of ability users. It's why we're teaming up with Anti-Skill already due to the threat this gang poses to us." Uiharu informed her.

"I know that."

Uiharu glanced at her from the corner of her eye. "That means no flying solo, Shirai-san."

Kuroko pouted and crossed her arms. "I have no clue what you are accusing me of."

"Uh-huh."

"Maybe they are using AIM Jammer like in the Reformatory?" Uiharu suggested.

"It doesn't match." Kuroko said with a shake of her head. "The side-effects of whatever these thugs are using are very different from those caused by the Jammer."

"True." Uiharu agreed. "But maybe some kind of similar system?"

"Possibly. But where would they have acquired it?"

* * *

Naru placed her palm on the fingerprint scanner as a camera shined a ray of light that read her retina. "Open up already."

At her crisp demand, the heavily fortified facility opened its doors for her.

"Greetings, Naru-sama." The security chief himself greeted her as she walked into the primary research facility that her personal Power Development Team were based.

"Hey. Can you tell me where the researcher in charge of my equipment is? I think we might have had a breach."

The man tensed, pausing midway as he walked out of the security office by the entrance, no doubt worried about his job. "Naru-sama, we've had no incidents at all-"

"Just let me talk to the researcher." She ordered the man, who gave a meek nod.

He led her down the hallway, passing by a few other researchers. Naru recognized faces that she could remember well and spotted a number of new ones too. Some waved hello, others looked at her with interest, and the rest were too into their research to even notice she was there.

"Good to be home." Naru muttered to herself.

Until she recently started living at Tokiwadai's Interior Dorm, this had been where she had grown up. In an environment filled with computers, test tubes, needles, scientists, and testing rooms.

Everything a happy growing child needs.

"The researcher you're looking for is in here, Naru-sama." The security chief said as he swiped a keycard near the door handle to unlock the door. He opened it and the blonde entered the room, alerting the staff inside to her presence.

"Ah! Naru-chan, welcome home!" One of the female scientists greeted her, Naru returned it with a small wave and headed for the man at a terminal at the far end of the room. The researcher in charge of the development of equipment to enhance her power.

"Take a look at this." She said, handing the man a thumb drive. He blinked at her abrupt demand but just shrugged. He was used to her attitude.

"Of course, Naru-chan." He smiled kindly and plugged the device into the closest computer.

The Number 2 waited a few minutes for the man to get caught up on what she knew.

"Hmm." The researcher muttered as he examined the data Naru had handed to him. "From the looks of this, it looks like Capacity Down was used against the victims."

"Knew it." Naru said triumphantly.

Capacity Down was a system that had been devised by her team as part of their efforts to assist her in recreating the many powers that the shinobi from her homeworld had been capable of. Efforts that had allowed her to discover that she could use chakra to shift herself into the upper dimensions and thus teleport, something that was considered a basic skill that the shinobi used in a technique they apparently called "Kawarimi no Jutsu". Though most of them never used the ability to anywhere near its full potential.

In contrast to that, Capacity Down was more of a derivative. It was a byproduct created from an attempt to create something that would allow Naru to duplicate the illusion creating abilities of shinobi. Something that despite her best efforts, the Level 5 could not manage on her own. While that goal had eventually been reached, along the way their experiments had stumbled upon the phenomenon that led to the creation of Capacity Down. A device that used certain high pitched sounds to cause disruptions in the parts of Esper's brains that regulated their AIM fields and made their powers difficult to control. All while giving them an intense headache.

"Oi! You blonde bitch! Get over here so I can eat your eyes out!"

Turning to the source of the voice, Naru eyed the decapitated but somehow still living head that had spoken to her. It had tanned skin and brushed back silver hair, that gave it an appearance that might have been called ruggedly handsome. Not that it mattered when it was now nothing more than a head in a jar.

"I thought someone gagged Specimen One?" The researcher complained. "You know it gets annoying if left to talk for too long."

"Fuck you, you limp dick prick! I ate out your wife last night!"

"Now!" The man ordered, glancing at the security chief.

Nodding, the man picked up a set of prongs -They had quickly learned not to go anywhere near the Specimen's mouth. He had quite the painful bite- and moved to stuff a dirty rag into his mouth.

 _They're using a dirty rag for his gag? He must have pissed them off lately. No surprise._

"Hey, hey! Keep that away from me! No, I will not be sil-mmcs!" Peace was restored when the head was quieted with the rag firmly in place.

"So if they are using Capacity Down, how did they get it?" Naru asked with an edge in her voice, that made the staff in the room break into a cold sweat. "Last I checked, this place was supposed to be heavily fortified. Am I wrong?"

"I-I don't know. There wasn't any break in here." The research stammered, scrambling for an answer. "There are other facilities where the data for Capacity Down is stored. Maybe they got it from there?"

"Can we check?"

The researcher nodded and turned to the security chief who was already moving to a nearby computer. "We can access the security logs from all affiliated facilities via our network. It will take a while to check through them though."

"I have time. I'll wait." As she said this, another researcher, the head of her power applications team, came in through the door, holding a tablet in his arm.

"Naru-sama, it's good you stopped by. I've been trying to contact you to arrange a visit." The man said as he walked up to the blonde.

"I've been busy." Naru looked away from the man, waiting for the results she wanted. "I've got a few minutes. Give me the cliff notes of whatever you wanted to talk about."

"Of course." The man said with a nod. "Basically, my team has a proposal for a possible new line of research. Something with the possibility to transform you into a Level 6."

Naru cocked an eyebrow at this. She knew that she had a good chance of becoming a Level 6, Specimen Four proved that. However, all projections had so far had her not being able to fill that potential without some kind of external intervention. The means of which was something that no one had figured out.

"You've made a breakthrough?"

"We believe so."

"Hogwash." The equipment development chief critiqued. "He's only saying that because he doesn't want to lose out to the folks working on Number 1's Level 6 Shift. His proposal is just grasping at straws."

The other man sneered in return. "Go back to playing with your toys, we're doing the real work!"

Naru groaned, covering her eyes with her hand. Her department heads seemed to enjoy butting their heads more often than not. It was a pain.

Thankfully, she was saved from the brewing argument by the security chief calling out, "Found it."

"That was fast."

"I didn't have to look far back or hard. The breach happened only a couple of months ago at one of our lesser affiliate labs and the culprits didn't even bother to cover their tracks well. The system even logged the intrusion. They just disabled the automatic reporting functions."

The Level 5 narrowed her eyes. "Then how did we miss it? Someone goes over the system alerts manually regularly, right?"

"If I had to hazard a guess? It's likely that whoever did it arranged for someone to sweep it under the rug, by making sure it never came to our attention."

Everyone exchanged a look at that. It took quite a bit of influence to pull something like that off.

"I want a name, give me a name!" Naru hissed, anger boiling within her like a raging fire.

"That I'm afraid that will take a proper investigation, Naru-sama." The chief offered apologetically. "We can however call up footage from what seems to be the theft. The culprit was smart enough to avoid setting off our automated alarms for tampering and left the records themselves alone."

"Heads are going to roll for this." Naru not so subtly warned.

Everyone paled at that.

One of the young lab assistants raised her hand, and in a shaky voice asked, "Literally?"

The rest of the staff in the room glared at her.

"Depends on my mood." Naru commented offhandedly before turning stern. "Show me the video."

"Here you are, Naru-sama." The chief said as he complied. "I've narrowed it down to the time when the break in happened."

The Esper nodded as she watched the video intently. Most of it seemed normal for a lab, but then a man dressed all in black seemed to appear as if from nowhere inside one of its data hubs. The video showed that a silent alarm was triggered but was immediately shut down via an override. The man in black meanwhile just proceeded to access a terminal and download what he wanted. When he was done, he turned to the camera for a brief moment and nodded, likely to inform his accomplice that he was done and in that moment, Naru recognised what he was.

It wasn't difficult. Not when he was wearing the distinctive Hitai-ate that all shinobi did.

"Shinobi." The Level 5 hissed in anger. _First they attack me and now they steal from me? They'll pay for this!_

Furious, Naru turned to leave. It was time to hunt down and crush some ninja wannabes.

"Naru-sama, about your Level 6 Shift!"

"Not now!" She barked as she stalked out of the facility.

 _I have more important things to deal with right now. Your little pet project can wait._

* * *

 _Ugh! A whole day wasted and nothing to tell for it._ Naru grumbled as she walked back into her dorm room intent on going to bed after a frustrating day.

"Namikaze-san!" Naru nearly fell over at the triple exclamation of her family name. In the room was Awatsuki-chan, Wannai-chan, and Kongou-chan, surrounded by snack wrappers and tea cups placed on the coffee table.

Rubbing her ringing ear, the blonde asked. "You guys hanging out?"

Awatsuki-chan shook her head. "No, Kongou-san is actually staying with us tonight."

Naru looked to the side, a hand covering her mouth. "I didn't know you were like that. I can find someone to bunk with if that's the case. Just leave my bed be."

Both Awatsuki-chan and Kongou-chan were reduced to stammering messes, both failing to form words.

"Th-They aren't like that!" Wannai-chan shouted, her face bright red as she glanced at Awatsuki-chan. "Kongou-san was attacked earlier!"

All humor left Naru's face, her features taking on a cold demeanor. "Explain."

Kongou-chan fiddled with her folding fan nervously. She proceeded to explain how she was assaulted by a group of Skill-Outs. She had been about to fight them off with her power but just as she was about to act she ended up hearing a terrible noise that gave her a debilitating headache so intense that she had passed out. By the time she came to, the men were on the ground and she found that she had been saved by an another man, one with red hair, dressed in a leather jacket, with a large tattoo of a spider on his back.

The room was silent as Kongou-chan shrunk into the care of Wannai-chan and Awatsuki-chan's comforting arms for emotional support. Obviously a little uncomfortable with having to retell what had happened.

"Don't worry about it." Naru assured in a dead calm voice. "I'll handle this."

"Namikaze-san, what do you mean by that?" Awatsuki-chan asked, her concern clear in her voice.

Naru just gave her a smile, and headed to take a fresh uniform from her wardrobe.

"I'll just take a shower and head out. I'm going out and settle this."

"What do you mean?" Wannai-chan asked.

"I'm gonna go step on a few bugs."

* * *

 **And we're halfway done with the Big Spider arc, yay! Thanks to the writing team as always, show the love!**

 **Ugh, this was a lot to write. Now Nameless, tell them the scary part.**

 **Nameless: Yeah, so we intended to do this whole arc in a single chapter, but it got way too long for our tastes. So we split it after leaving you on this minor cliffhanger.**

 **We have too many ideas! I know, the dread of any author. Hope you enjoyed the holochamber scene and some of you picked up that little homage for the company name. And no, they do not exist here, it's just a homage.**

 **Nameless: So we have some reviewers who are a little put off by the fact that there is a higher level of rule of cool and use of tropes in this fic compared to our PJOverse works. I would like to make clear that is the result of our respecting of the Toaruverse which incorporates these things a lot more than the PJOverse and because we want to play with these things once in awhile too. In fact, it is because of this that we chose to write in this particular fandom in the first place. That said, we're also not going full tilt rule of cool. So if you're not liking the difference, then all I can say is that perhaps this story is not your cup of tea.**

 **E4E: Exactly, sometimes even we want to just go a little off our usual beaten track to do something new and invigorating. Does that make our work any lesser? No. This is for fun guys, so have fun with us!**

 **Nameless: In other news… Saten became an info broker. As is stated in-story, she's doing so to build up influence to get her mother out of prison. Plus it really is what she prefers to do rather than fighting on the frontline. She knows she can't fully escape the Dark Side but she wants to stay on it on her own terms and so she's setting the foundation for it.**

 **Itherael: Well, my first comment as part of the team, what can I say? Maybe that it's awesome being part of this project, and Naru is just so Moe, so I'm quite happy, you know. I'm not a lolicon, though :P While I usually write long chapters, I think this story works perfectly with this size of chapters, so don't get desperate peeps, the next update will come, and it will make you scream in joy!**

 **Nameless: So I dunno if you spotted it, but we left a few clues as to why Naru and Saten are ranked the way they are. For those of you who didn't get it, here it is spelled out for you (with some spoileristic details):**

 **1) Naru: They know she can go Level 6. They have a sample of a** **being (Kaguya aka Specimen Four) that proves that her breed of Gemstone can do it. They're still working out how though, but it's a low priority for Academy City since she's only one person and any method created is not applicable for others so if they fail with her that's the end of the road on that bit of research. The latter point is why she's Number 2 and not 1. Breeding her is an option but would be a long term thing which further adds to her lower ranking. Plus they aren't 100% sure that her abilities are fully inheritable, not if she breeds with non-shinobi, so that contributes negatively to her ranking too.**

 **2) Saten: She is roughly equal in potential to become a Level 6 as Kakine being an AIM being like him. Her nature is more useful as a source of data for other aspects of Aleister's overall plan though, like creating Kazakiri and Aiwass' body, thus her higher ranking. Plus her ability to disrupt AIM fields makes her a bane to Kakine who is vulnerable to such attacks. She's also a backup for Kazakiri who is supposedly as important to his grand plan as Accel.**

 **E4E: Now smash that review button in the face! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Six: Bug on the Windshield**

 **Beta:**

* * *

At the 177th Branch office of Judgement, Ruiko, Misaka-sempai, and the branch's Judgement staff were sitting on the couches, talking about their missing friend, Naru.

"Namikaze-san has been acting most worrisomely as of late." Shirai-san mentioned as she sharpened her nail projectiles with a file. "Kongou-san came to _me_ over the matter. That was how worried she was. And we are by no means close."

Misaka-sempai nodded. "I offered to take her out to eat, just to test the waters. She outright ditched me. The Usagi's up to something."

"That's how you figured it out?" Shirai-san asked her roommate dully.

Their Sempai flustered. "Don't knock my methods, Kuroko!"

"Honestly Onee-sama, you really need to use more tact." Misaka-sama said defensively.

"The fact of the matter is that Namikaze-san has been spotted in _The Strange._ " Uiharu frowned as she sipped her tea. "She's sent quite a few of the Skill-Outs there to the hospital too."

 _Hmm…_ Ruiko mused to herself as she tapped into the internet wirelessly with a little application of Electromastery and began doing some research on what Namikaze-san was doing. She already had an idea, but she needed to check a few things before she shared her conclusions.

[Railgun]-sempai wasn't that patient though.

"Geez!" Misaka-sempai screamed, rubbing her hair furiously as sparks danced along her forehead. She pulled out her phone and started dialing. "I'm getting to the bottom of this, she better answer truthfully or I swear I'll do something drastic!"

"There isn't much you can do to force her to tell you her motives." Ruiko said, being the voice of reason. Namikaze-san was a wild card to begin with after all.

"I don't care, Saten! This cool lone wolf garbage needs to end. She's got friends for a reason." Her Sempai glared at her, and the Number 3 replied with a small nod.

 _I'm so going to throw that back in her face the next time she decides to play the lone wolf._

That said, what Misaka-sempai had said was true. After the Level Upper incident, they were closer now. Close enough that they _should_ be coming to each other for help and not running off to settle things on their own. At least Ruiko thought so.

Though Namikaze-san still felt...distant in a way.

"Pick up, you damn Chibi." Her Sempai muttered in annoyance as she tapped her foot furiously. Her eyes lit up as the call connected.

"Finally! Where have you been?"

She demanded before removing the phone from her ear and turning on the speaker function.

" _Hello to you too, Sempai."_

You could just hear the eye roll in her words.

"Whatever you're up to, you're letting us help you."

" _...Has Shirai-chan drugged you, Sempai?"_

"NO!" "Sadly no." The roommates replied.

" _How sad, you could use the stress relief with how wound up you sound."_

"I keep telling her that, but Onee-sama keeps telling me 'no'." Shirai-san sounded tearful at that.

"Urasai, Kuroko!" The [Railgun] scolded her roommate and glared at her phone, as if Namikaze-san was in her palm. "And don't change the topic."

" _You really are annoying, you know that? Get off that white horse of yours. I'm not Saten-chan, I don't need saving from myself."_

Ruiko cocked an eyebrow at that. "I didn't need saving either, Namikaze-san. I nevertheless appreciated it when my friends, yourself included, stepped in to try to help me."

" _Yeah, well, I don't need it."_

"Stop acting like some action heroine, this isn't a game!"

" _Pot meet kettle."_

 _Point for Namikaze-san. Again._

"I'm going to rip those ears right off!" Misaka-sempai shouted into the phone.

"Enough both of you." Konori-sempai cut in, taking the phone from the Level 5. "Misaka-san, stop letting Namikaze-san rile you up. Namikaze-san, stop trying to redirect the conversation with your teasing."

The Number 5 just gave a chastised nod.

" _Spoilsport."_ Namikaze-san whined.

"Namikaze-san, where are you and what are you doing?" Konori-sempai asked carefully.

" _Hm hm, might as well let Judgement know what I'm up to. I'm going to pretty much squash Big Spider. So I'm doing your job. You think I'll get paid for it?"_

She sounded highly casual over the matter. As expected from the top agent of the Superintendent.

Konori-sempai tightened her hold over the phone, looking troubled. "Namikaze-san, please don't do anything rash."

" _Too late, I'm angry. And I can be_ very _unpleasant when I am. Bye-bye!"_

"Oi! Don't you hang-!"

Namikaze-san ended the call.

"...up. That girl-!" Misaka-sempai swore under her breath as she took her phone back from Konori-sempai. She looked right at Ruiko with her hands on her hips. "Well?"

"Hm?"

"You know what's she up to right?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been setting yourself up as an info broker, aren't you?" Konori-sempai revealed. "So what do you know?"

"...Does everyone know?" Ruiko frowned, looking around the room.

"Judgement isn't blind or deaf, Saten-san." Uiharu lectured her with a finger in the air.

"Oh." Ruiko said in a, in her opinion, believable way.

The way everyone rolled their eyes told her otherwise. _What? I'm an info broker, did they think I wouldn't pick up on Judgement noticing my activities? I'd be quite a lousy one if I did._

"Just answer the question." Misaka-sempai demanded in exasperation.

"Give me a minute, I just linked up."

"I still find that weird." Her fellow Level 5 muttered.

"Noted." Ruiko said robotically and blinked a few times. "She's looking for someone. Male. Asian, specifically Japanese. Tall. Redhead. Distinctive markers: a large Spider Tattoo on his back." Her voice lost her mechanical quality as she finished reading from the Anti-Skill report. "From what I can tell based on matching that description to profiles in my database, the man she's looking for is-"

"Kurozuma Wataru." Konori-sempai interrupted her, worry reverberating in her voice as she paled.

"Who?"

* * *

A few hours after her call with her friends, Naru was waiting in one of the many abandoned buildings in _The Strange_. The place had been gutted and from her spot sticking to the ceiling with her chakra, she could see practically everything that happened within the hollowed out shell of a structure.

She had been waiting for some time now for her prey.

Instead of fruitlessly tracking down a vagabond like that Kurozuma guy, she'd decided to lure him in. So she'd beat up some of the low-level Skill-Outs that were everywhere in this part of town and told them to pass on the message that they needed to stay away from this particular building because it was Big Spider's latest hideout and she wanted some alone time with the gang.

What they thought of that was up to them.

What she _did_ care about was the fact that they would pass on that tidbit of information to their buddies which would allow it to reach Kurozuma's ears. Since he was apparently also hunting down Big Spider for some reason, he'd show up eventually to check the place out.

And then Naru could ask him some questions.

 _Finally._ The Level 5 mused victoriously as a man matching the description she had dredged up walked into the building. He was a tall and muscular man with wavy red hair, green eyes, and sported a black leather jacket.

He was strolling around the place, casually drinking from a carton of milk as he did so.

Naru decided it was time to greet him.

Releasing her chakra's grip on the ceiling, she fell to the ground, flipping mid-air she reshaped her chakra in her feet to ensure that she landed silently.

"Kurozuma Wataru?" She asked sternly.

"Hm?" He asked, turning around as he sipped his drink of choice. He swallowed and let the carton fall to his side. "Oi oi, Jou-chan, this ain't a place for little kids. You should be at the park or something."

He said all of this with an infectious smile. Despite being once the leader of a notorious Skill-Out gang, he had a surprisingly warm and gentle nature about him.

The blonde gave him a dry look. "Funny. Listen, Kurozuma, I need to track down Big Spider."

"Why?" The former gang leader asked in his disarming way, but Naru spotted how he tensed slightly.

"They've been causing me some trouble lately and it's about time that I reminded them what it means to upset a Level 5."

"That sounds bad." He said, taking another sip of his milk, completely ignoring Naru's revelation of just what he was dealing with.

"Very. So I'd like to recruit you to help me know how Big Spider thinks." Naru offered.

Normally, the Number 2 had a huge amount of resources at her disposal if she was doing a job. Sadly, this was an off the books matter. So she had to do her own legwork this time.

 _Well, screw that. I'm getting myself a flunkie._

"And what do I get if I help?"

"You get to live." Naru crossed her arms impatiently.

Kurozuma stroked his chin. "I do like living."

"So you in or what?"

The redhead nodded and said. "Only if we can do a milk run first."

"A milk run or an actual milk run?" Naru asked even as she eyed the strange man suspiciously.

With his same unflappable attitude that he had maintained so far, he turned over his now empty carton.

"When it comes to milk. It's gotta be Musashino! We can get you some too, makes little girls grow big." He said, pointing at her developing chest.

Naru just blinked in confusion, _He just talked about my breasts and I'm not offended. It was like he wasn't being perverted at all. That's weird._

 _ **I think this whole conversation is kinda absurd.**_

 _But two can play at that game. Kurama, I choose you!_

" **What?"** The now poodle sized, and adorable looking demon squawked in surprise as he materialised in the outside world. **"Dammit! How many times have I told you to not do this without telling me?"**

Kurozuma dropped his empty carton. "What is that puffball?"

" **I will suck the marrow from your bones!"**

"He's what's going to get your milk while we start our investigation." Naru informed him.

Kurama gave her a hateful glare. **"If I'm doing this, I'm getting my Midnight Mocha Ultimate Frappé from Dairy Queen."**

"Whatever."

Kurama stretched one of his nine tails in her direction. **"Card?"**

The blonde pulled out her wallet and gave him a shiny plastic card.

" **The debit?!"**

"Like hell I'm giving you the credit."

" **Lack of trust! The things I work with, I should go on strike."** The demon grumbled, walking off in a huff.

"Just don't burn the place down again!"

" **That was only the one time!"** The fox grumbled, disappearing from sight a moment later.

"So did you teleport him in or something?"

"None of your business." Naru said as she shot him a chilling glare in warning.

Placing his hands up in a placating gesture, he nodded. "Gotcha. Don't ask questions about your weird furry stuff."

"Glad you got that." Naru said as he sent him a menacing smile. "Now about my questions?"

"Yeah, let's set a pace. Best not to be stationary around this area." The Skill-Out said, gesturing to the exit. "Your little pet fox can track us, right?"

Naru nodded, and the two of them strolled off together.

"So what can you tell me about Big Spider?" The Esper asked.

"As it is now? Not much, I've been out of the loop for too long. I can tell you how they'd think, but that's hard to put into words."

"Hm, you're losing points fast."

"How about I show you instead? Like where they might be hiding out and stuff?"

"Congrats, you earned five live points." She said in a chipper tone.

"Yay!" Kurozuma said with a smile, playing along with Naru's little game.

"As good as that is, you really can't tell me anything?" The Level 5 pressed. She wasn't convinced that the man really had nothing to tell her about her target.

"Well," The redhead said consideringly. "You heard about the shinobi dudes that's been working with the gang lately?"

"A shinobi is actively working with Big Spider?" The blonde hissed.

"Yeah, which is new. The ninja cosplayers have had dealings with Skill-Out groups for ages." Naru nodded and gestured for him to continue. "But they usually just operate as suppliers for weapons, drugs and whatever. They seem to be literally able to get anything!"

"Because they're little rats eating scraps off my plate." Naru said angrily, fuming over the idea of a bunch of cheap knock-offs of herself running around doing who knows what.

"Maybe. But probably not just yours, unless you have an entire arsenal of guns hidden somewhere."

The blue eyed girl looked coy, tracing a finger across her lips. "A Lady's gotta keep her secrets."

"Yeah. Yeah. I get it. Don't ask questions."

"Not what I meant, but you've got yourself another two live points." Naru said with a sigh. "Anything else you know about these shinobi?"

"Of course." Kurozuma said with confidence. "Loads."

"Loads...? Like?" Naru narrowed her gaze, smiling darkly. "Impress me."

"..Like how they sometimes recruit from the Skill-Out groups. I never really liked that," The former gang leader admitted. "Not with how those who join are never heard from again."

"You sound like you don't like them much."

"Why would I? They're far too shady for my tastes. Useful bunch, but way too secretive."

"Twenty bonus intelligence points!" Naru declared cheerfully.

"Thanks." Kurozuma replied with a smile. "But as much as I hate to admit it, having the shinobi working with them is going to make tracking down the gang a lot harder."

Naru sighed as she realized the same thing.

"Cat and mouse." She concluded. "With a shinobi advising them, this Big Spider Hunt just became a game of Cat and Mouse. He'll make sure to get them to keep moving and not hole up in any one place."

Kurozuma punched his fist into his free palm. "That just means we need to track down and search each and every base one at a time. Easy."

"I'm going to have to do the legwork, aren't I?"

"You've got the powers, I've got the directions, Jou-chan. Take it as you will." The man shrugged.

"Minus ten live points."

"Oi!"

* * *

"This is the seventh one and once again, nothing." The young blonde Esper kicked a beer can that laid on the floor. It flew into a nearby wall, embedding into the concrete wall in the process. It was however one can among many, dozens of others littered the floor along with fast food wrappers and other trash. "I feel like we're being taunted."

"Getting frustrated already, Jou-chan?"

Naru's sharp blue eyes cut to Kurozuma. "I just want this mess over with. Get my equipment back and collect that Shinobi's head. Also, minus another live point for you."

"You should be happier. It just means they've got less places to hide since we're knocking this one off the list." The red haired Skill-Out grinned and casually brushed off his current right to live score.

After the first three failed locations, he had started to ignore it entirely.

Honestly, where was the fear for a Level 5?

What a weird guy.

"Fiiine." Naru whined and conceded. "I'm just saying-"

She paused, her senses suddenly spiked and she went on full alert. Seeing her tense, Kurozuma also glanced around while his fists tightened in preparation for a fight.

"That sixth sense of yours is as sharp as always, Namikaze-san."

And like a balloon, Naru's tension deflated as she recognised the voice. "It's fine, Kurozuma. It's just Saten-chan, trying to stick her nose into my business!"

At her complaint, Saten peeked around the corner with a tiny frown on her lips.

"I came by to help."

Naru put her hands on her hips. "Well I don't need it. I have a minion for that."

Kurozuma blinked and pointed to himself. "I went from Tour Guide to Minion?"

"Hush minion, the little girls are talking."

"Okay, just going to go over there and contemplate some life choices." The man said as he mosied a distance away.

"Kurozuma Wataru?" Saten raised a brow and Naru nodded. "Figured. Still, I'm serious about helping you. I know you're cut off from your usual resources."

"What do you _not_ know?" The blonde said with a derisive eye-roll. "I can handle working off the grid ops just fine."

"Perhaps." Saten acknowledged. "But you could surely use the help. It's not just me offering either. I speak for Uiharu, Shirai-san, Misaka-sempai and even Konori-sempai."

Kurozuma perked up at the mention of Konori-san's name for some reason.

Naru's interest was piqued and she'd definitely ask him about it later, but right now she had a worrywart of a friend - was Saten her friend? - to send packing.

The blonde rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Look, I'm flattered by the offer, but this is something I have to do on my own."

Saten pointed to Kurozuma.

"I'm being figurative! Plus he's my minion. He doesn't count."

[Multi-Skill] frowned but nevertheless nodded.

"If you're sure?"

"Yeah, just go distract Sempai and the others. You know how nosy they can be." Naru said, waving her off. "Make fun of her shorts or something, that'll get Shirai-chan to join in and keep her annoyed."

"...You know how these things would play out too well."

Naru grinned impishly. "I just know how people tick."

Saten left in a overly flamboyant way, teleporting away while leaving a spatial distortion behind in her wake.

 _Ok. She's definitely not happy with me._ Naru noted. _She only ever shows off like that when she's upset._

The Number 3 was such a child.

"Looks like you've got a nice little home to go back to, why are you slumming it here?" Kurozuma asked as he walked over to her with his hands in his pockets.

Naru regarded him with a bizarre look. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I mean."

"We've got a job to do." The Number 2 looked away from him, refusing to acknowledge what he had said. Instead, she turned to head out of the building. "Hustle."

"Whatever my 'Master' says, this lowly Minion will obey." The man said, his voice filled with mirth. The jerk even chuckled a little.

"Wow, it's creepy how into it you are."

"...You're a real mouthy brat, Jou-chan."

* * *

"If we find another empty building with nothing but shitty beer cans and wrappers, I'm making you do community service and clean it up." Naru told Kurozuma as they walked side by side towards the next potential Big Spider base.

The man held up his arms in protest. "I'm not a janitor. Don't tell me you're demoting me already?"

"Depends on my mood."

"Can you be any harsher? Wait! Don't answer that."

Naru pouted, she was indeed going to answer that. "Let's just scan it quickly and move on to the next one- Well, looks like we might have a live one."

Unlike the other rundown buildings they had investigated so far, this one was not empty. Skulking around the shadows of the gutted structure, probably a former warehouse from the looks of it, was a young woman in a eye catching red jacket.

"Konori-san?" Naru asked in surprise as she recognized the figure. "What's with running into people today?!"

The curvy Judgement member looked startled. "Namikaze-san? Sempai!"

At her gasp, the man flashed her a smile. "Yo, Mii."

"What are you doing here, Konori-san?" Naru asked suspiciously, as she shot a look between the older girl and her former gang leader of a lackey. "Trying to settle old scores with your old gang?"

Konori winced.

"Mii." Kurozuma said in disappointed voice.

The high schooler looked away, unwilling to look the man in the eyes. She nevertheless chose to answer Naru's question.

"Yes, I used to part of Big Spider. So-"

"So you feel a sense of responsibility over what they're doing now?" Naru hypothesized.

The Judgement agent nodded.

Kurozuma looked ready to say something, but Naru beat him to the punch. "I know what you mean. The device they're using-"

"Capacity Down?"

Naru's eyebrow twitched.

"Saten-chan is such a tattletale!"

Konori gave a slight smile at Naru's show of childish pique.

"Anyways! As I was saying, I know how you feel. Capacity Down was developed as a byproduct of researching my powers. So I feel like I have to settle this, you know?"

"I can imagine." Konori agreed with an understanding expression on her face.

"Mii, what are you doing?" Kurozuma said, finally getting a chance to cut into the conversation.

"Why do ask, Sempai?" Konori looked at Kurozuma. "Besides, shouldn't I go first?" The high schooler's face took on a odd look as she continued. "Why didn't you contact me if you were alive?"

The hurt in her voice was visible, but Kurozuma shrugged. "Who knows. That's besides the point, anyways. Mii, you do know that Big Spider and _The Strange_ isn't your home, right? A girl like you shouldn't be here all by yourself." He chided her, flustering the bespectacled girl.

"That might be true." Konori conceded and rubbed her arm self-consciously. "But, I still have feelings for you, Sempai."

"So you're just going to up and toss away your new home and friends over a crush? Come on, Mii. You're better than that." Kurozuma smirked at her as she flinched at his words.

"...It's like a cheesy drama." Naru muttered as she watched the scene unfold. If only she had some popcorn. "Also, Shirai-chan and Uiharu-chan would be upset if you left. Who'd be their favorite Judgement Sempai otherwise?"

Konori looked at Kurozuma for some form of support, but he just gestured to the younger Esper. "You really want to leave this hellion alone? The others too?"

"Oi!"

Konori looked down, a sad smile on her face. "Why are you so good at talking to people like this, Sempai?"

Kurozuma laughed and walked over to her, ruffling her hair. "Natural talent!"

Konori laughed at that and playfully shoved him away. "You are such a ham."

The redhead held his chest in mock pain. "Hurtful! You're about as mouthy as this brat here!"

Naru pouted at this. She was far more mouthy thank you very much!

 _ **No denying that.**_

The older girl just shot Naru and the man an amused smile for a moment before taking a deep breath. As she exhaled, her entire posture changed. Gone was the hesitation that she had been displaying until now, in its stead was an aura of determination.

"Alright, I'm ending this. As a proud member of Judgement!" She declared as she whipped out her phone. "And Judgement never works alone. It's time to call for backup."

Naru groaned even as the older girl spoke to Shirai-san over the phone. "That means Sempai's getting involved. Great. I'm going to be blamed for her collateral damage for sure!"

Konori giggled at that, as she ended her call and put away her phone. "Look on the bright side, Namikaze-san. Saten-san will likely tag along too, so at least we won't have to go on a wild goose chase."

"I just can't seem to get rid of those girls. Fine! Whatever. They can help." Naru said with a tired sigh as she dismissed her annoyance. "They just better not get in my way."

Kurozuma laughed and looked the blonde in the eye. "You've got a good thing going on here, Jou-chan. Don't go dissing your friends like that."

"Shut up or I'm subtracting ten live points!" Naru yelled at him, her pigtails in a tizzy as she huffed. _Maybe he's actually right._

 _ **What's the harm in taking a chance?**_

 _I only like taking chances if they're in my favor._

* * *

It didn't take long for the rest of the gang to arrive. It helped when both Shirai and Saten could teleport. They had simply teleported in with Misaka-sempai in tow. Thankfully, they hadn't brought Uiharu along. That girl had unseen strengths but she most definitely wasn't suited for _The Strange_. The tech wiz was however communicating with them via video chat.

"How homely." Shirai commented while blanching at their temporary base of operations. The same abandoned warehouse that Naru had run into Konori-san, though now equipped with a handful of chairs that Saten had conjured using Dark Matter.

Even as the others settled in, Misaka-sempai marched right up to the blonde and glared down at her.

"Yes?"

The older girl simply conked her on the head.

"Hey!" Naru complained, rubbing her head in annoyance.

"That's for acting like an idiot." Her Sempai said in way of explanation as she winced and rubbed her fist.

"Says the short tempered idiot herself!"

"Girls, please?" Konori cajoled them as she sat down in one of the chairs.

"Hmph!" The two girls grunted, looking away from each other with crossed arms.

"Onee-sama." Shirai rubbed her face in embarrassment while Saten looked amused at their little spat.

"Let's go over what we know." Saten said, in a bid to take charge.

"Before that." Shirai said with a serious look on her face. "There's something we need to do."

An instant later, Konori's Judgement armband materialised around her right arm.

"There." The Teleporter declared proudly. "Now Konori-sempai is dressed as she should be."

The high schooler blinked a few times in surprise but quickly overcame that.

"Thank you, Shirai-san." Konori said sincerely as she shot a glance at Kurozuma who gave her an encouraging smile.

"Right, enough with the distractions." Naru cut in impatiently. "Let's get started already." Without giving anyone the chance to object, she continued. "So first of all, we know that a Shinobi is helping Big Spider hide between their attacks. Which is what makes them so hard to find."

"It's actually not that difficult." Uiharu commented from Saten's phone. "No matter what Big Spider is doing it's still a street gang, they aren't that sophisticated. Or known for their discretion."

"So?"

"So, Jou-chan, what flower girl is saying is that with the authorities and people like us hunting them down, they've been acting up. They want to show they're unafraid and to gain some street cred. And when they do act up, they leave behind trails which people can follow."

Naru's eyebrow twitched as she turned to eye her minion. "And why haven't we been following these trails earlier then?"

"You have some way to track their attacks?" The Skill-Out shot back. "What we did was the best plan based on the resources we had."

"Thankfully, I'm not so limited." Uiharu boasted, even as she shot Saten a look.

 _Probably because your best friend gave you something extra!_

Proving Naru's assumption, Saten continued from where Uiharu left off.

"Using the data on Big Spider's recent attacks, their known hideouts and a little tracking of their movements using the City's surveillance systems, we've located their current base."

Konori blinked at this. "And nobody told me?"

"Your phone was off." Misaka-sempai pointed out. "It's not like we didn't try."

"Right." The senior Jugement agent said with a blush.

"Enough talk!" Naru demanded. "We know where the jerks are, let's go bust some heads!"

Everyone smirked at the blonde's enthusiasm, all of them had a bone to pick with Big Spider.

"One last thing before we do that. Namikaze-san, I have something to tell you," Saten said with a forebodingly serious expression. "The only reason the Shinobi were able to get access to your lab was because they had help. Help from a Kihara."

Hearing this news, Naru's eyes narrowed. "Of course it would be one of those twisted fuckers."

"Kihara?" Misaka-sempai looked confused about how serious both her kohai had suddenly become.

"A smart but crazy group of scientists. That's all you need to know, Sempai." Naru said, not wanting to let her know the details of their depravity.

"You know what this means. If they're involved, this just got a whole lot more dangerous."

"Duh." Naru told Saten as she considered which freakshow would help the Shinobi.

In the end, it didn't matter.

The agent of Aleister would figure it out some other time. She had more pressing issues to deal with.

"It doesn't change anything. We have their location, so it's time to strike back." Naru declared as she stood up.

"And the plan?" Her Sempai asked her.

"Recover or destroy Capacity Down, take down Big Spider, and pin Pajama Man's hide to my wall."

"L-Let's make a more concrete plan!" Uiharu urged over the video feed.

The blonde groaned, this was why she preferred solo work.

* * *

As the group walked towards the location of Big Spider's latest base, Wataru let out a laugh. "Man this is weird."

"What is, Sempai?" Mii asked with a quirked brow.

"We're walking to a gang fight and I've got a bunch of little Jou-chans as backup." He looked over his shoulder and grinned broadly. "It's funny!"

"All we need are leather jackets and pompadour wigs." The imp that was his new 'boss' joked with that teasing smirk of hers.

"Oi oi, that's just stereotyping." Wataru waved off as they arrived at their destination. It was yet another rundown former warehouse, but from the sound of voices from inside, this place was clearly occupied. Though the presence of a goon guarding the door was sign enough of that.

"Just give me a minute." The former gang leader declared as he strolled up to the guard. Looking over his shoulder to make sure his request was respected, he spotted a number of the girls rolling their eyes or otherwise showing how little they thought of his act of kindness, but they listened anyway and that's what counted.

"Yo! Mind opening the door for me?" Wataru asked as he reached the man.

The guard was startled for a moment before he paled as he seemed to recognise him. He went for something in his pocket, but the redhead didn't give him the chance to fish whatever it was out. Sprinting forward, he delivered a fist right into the guy's face.

The thug was hit with such force that he slammed right into the locked door. It was either his weight, the force of the blow, the lousy state of the locking mechanism or some combination thereof but this snapped the lock and the door swung open and sent the goon falling to the floor inside the building. Wataru smirked at the sight and stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets.

"Thanks!"

He stepped inside, dancing around the knocked out man as he did so.

"You shouldn't be sleeping on the job." He tauntingly told the unconscious gangster while shooting him a glance as he passed.

His scolding done, he looked up at the rest of the surprised gang.

 _This is what Big Spider is like nowadays? It's nothing like how it used to be._ He inwardly sighed, _Oh well. I guess, it's time to fix it._

"Kurozuma-san!" One of the thugs shouted, looking towards the gang's current boss who was sitting on a couch towards the back of the building. "It's that guy that beat us up!"

Wataru's eyes narrowed a bit as he looked at this 'Kurozuma'. His black hair was styled into a punch perm. There was a scar on his left cheek and he had the beginnings of a moustache on his upper lip.

The real Kurozuma felt a touch insulted at his name being taken by the likes of this man. He'd expected it of course, the older members he'd come across while tracking the gang down had told him as much. However, actually seeing it for himself left him feeling more offended than he thought he would have been.

"Kurozuma-san." 'Kurozuma' murmured in shock as he stood up.

"Hebitani-kun, you've lowered yourself to become quite the scumbag, huh?" Mii asked as she walked in and stood right next to him. "Relying on strength in numbers, not to mention weapons too? What a disgrace."

"Konori-san?!" Hebitani cried out in surprise, but that was quickly replaced by anger as he spotted Mii's armband. "Shut up! You turned your back on us and joined Judgement! What would you know!?"

"Hebitani, calm yourself." A cool and emotionless voice said.

Everyone's eyes shifted to a lanky man holed up in the far corner. He was wearing regular clothes but he wore a headband with a metal plate that had the kanji for 'Shinobi' engraved on it.

How tacky.

As the Shinobi announced himself, the little blonde Jou-chan walked forward, grinning wildly as bloodlust rolled off her in spades. "Welcome to my parlor said the spider to the fly. Hello little bugs. Who wants to be squished first?"

"Greetings, [Demon]." The shady bastard told the girl.

Lil' Namikaze pointed to the man. "He's mine. Got it?"

That Saten girl looked put out by this, but conceded with a nod.

Hebitani looked at his gang and barked out his order. "Go on! Show them the power of Big Spider!"

The majority of the thugs pointed their pistols at the ragtag group. As soon as they did, two nails warped into each of them, rendering them useless. The thugs looked startled by this as that lil' Judgement girl materialised in front of their group.

"Shall I start delivering them directly into your bodies next?" She asked politely while holding up a fistful of nails.

Hebitani paled, but despite his fear nevertheless managed a vicious smile. "It doesn't matter, we still have-"

"Have what?" The short haired Tokiwadai girl asked as she flipped a coin into the air. She flicked her thumb and a large blast of energy destroyed a nearby wall, and took out a purple car on the other side of it for good measure. At this, all the thugs started screaming in panic. "You mean that Capacity Down thing? You think we wouldn't be prepared for that?"

The blonde Jou-chan looked annoyed. "First off, it's _my_ Capacity Down. Second, don't go destroying my stuff."

"It was in the way!"

"There's an off button, you Baka-sempai."

"You are so unbelievable!"

The banter between the girls seemed to send the already tightly wound Hebitani over the edge and he hysterically began issuing orders. "Get her! Get all of them!"

"Are you crazy? That's Tokiwadai's Ace! The [Railgun]!" One of the thugs cried out.

"And see that hairpin? That's [Multi-Skill]!"

"[Maniforce] too?! Oh god I don't want to die!"

"We're no match for one let alone three!"

They were all backing away from the Jou-chans until Hebitani put a gun to one of his boys' heads. "You don't back down! You either get them or I'll kill you."

The Shinobi looked to the side. "It seems this group was a wasted effort."

Wataru's lil' 'boss' snickered. "That's what you get for working with hasbeens, baka~!"

The other three Tokiwadai girls looked ready to rumble, but Mii looked at them. "Leave this to us. Respect your elders for once."

She winked at them, but Namikaze ignored her and proceeded to teleport right in front of the Shinobi in the blink of an eye.

She threw a punch at the man, the ninja barely dodging as he literally bounced from wall to wall as he sped up to the ceiling where he crouched down to look down at them all with a slightly contemptuous look.

Wataru thought that the man didn't really have any cause to look down on them though, not when he barely avoided losing his head to a little girl. After all, the blonde's punch managed to bring down half the wall in a loud boom. The man's head would never have survived taking a hit from that.

She didn't take time to gloat over her impressive showing however as without even taking a look at her handiwork, she teleported behind the man. As she materialized, her leg was already curled back and ready for a kick. She once more missed however as the Shinobi seemingly teleported away, replacing himself with a log of all things as he did so. Her blow tore through the wood like toilet paper and as it connected with the roof, the blow tore a good chunk of it away.

Rubble created from her latest attack struck the couch that Hebitani was once sitting on, barely missing the ninja as he reappeared on the ground. The man smirked and shot the blonde a cheeky wave before he darted out the hole she had made previously.

"You're not getting away!" The Number Two declared as she gave chase in a blur of movement.

"I think she's drank too much milk." Wataru whispered to Mii, who looked surprised at the force the girl could dole out with her limbs alone.

Cracking a smile at his comment, Mii chimed in. "If that were the case, she would be bigger."

"Point to you."

 _Well she's just as impressive as the rumors say she is._ Wataru mused as he let out an awed whistle. _But I can't let her get all the glory, can I?_

"Whoo! Come on, put your hearts into it boys or it won't be a challenge!" He shouted as he leapt into a group of three of the stunned thugs and proceeded to take them all out with a single strike.

With one of the Level 5s now gone, it seemed the Spiders had gained some semblance of stupid courage and charged.

One came right at Wataru, swinging a metal pipe at him. Easily ducking under it, the redhead delivered a solid punch to his face that broke the man's teeth. He was sent flying into another oncoming thug, sending both to the ground with a thud. Getting into the thick of things, the Skill-Out bounced on his feet and delivered a kick into the gut of another thug. Another goon came at him, but he easily sidestepped the man, elbowing him in the back of the head as he did.

A thug went to grab something from his pocket, but Mii sprang into action, gripping his wrist tightly and twisting it, forcing him to drop the gun he was in the middle of drawing. She reached into his other pocket and pulled out a stun gun. "I'll be confiscating that pistol. As well as this stun gun."

She then added insult to injury and plugged the man's own stun gun into his neck, using it to knock the guy out.

Wataru was impressed. She had Clairvoyance this whole time? "So that's your ability, huh? Pretty awesome."

Mii smiled prettily at him. "Isn't it?"

Wataru looked at the remaining thugs. "Heh, now I'm fired up. Let's go, Mii!"

"Hai!"

* * *

While Kurozuma and Konori-sempai were busy beating the tar out of the Big Spider thugs, Mikoto and her two remaining kohai were left with the much less exciting task of policing those that the former had defeated.

This amounted to Kuroko and occasionally Saten teleporting the beat up thugs into a cage that [Multi-Skill] had conjured out of that strange grey not-metal that she was so fond of. Mikoto contributed by shocking the thugs into unconsciousness whenever they had somehow escaped that fate during the fight.

"Yo, Saten, you sure you're ok with your job?" Mikoto asked a little worried. "I mean it's kinda boring. You're basically not doing anything."

The Number 3 just shrugged. "I'm fine with it. I don't particularly like fighting, so I don't really mind."

"Onee-sama, here's another one." Kuroko announced as she teleported back with another groaning Skill-Out who Mikoto promptly sent into the realm of unconsciousness with a burst of electricity.

"Keep up the good work, Kuroko." The [Railgun] said encouragingly.

"Hai," The twin-tailed Teleporter replied cheerfully as she went back to her task.

Turning back to her fellow Level 5, Mikoto found the younger girl leaning against the bars of the cage with a relaxed look on her face.

"You're not worried? Not even with the Chibi fighting that Shinobi person?"

"What is there to be worried about?" The black haired girl replied with a careless shrug. "Uiharu has made sure that Anti-Skill is on their way and Namikaze-san can handle a single wannabe ninja. Everything's covered."

"I guess." Mikoto admitted, though with far less confidence than her kohai apparently had.

 _Though I guess she knows more about these Shinobi than I do._ Mikoto mused as she too shrugged. _So if she thinks the Usagi can handle it on her own then so should I._

"Onee-sama, here's my latest delivery." Kuroko greeted as she returned with another injured thug.

 _Right. I can think about things later._ The chestnut haired girl concluded with a shake to clear her head. _I've got a job to do at the moment._

* * *

Naru turned down a narrow alleyway and ducked under a hail of shuriken, sliding on her knees as she did so. Disappearing with another teleport, she reappeared above the wannabe. "Come on, at least make me try!"

 _ **You've got five behind you!**_

Naru clicked her tongue and swung around seeing two more Shinobi coming at her armed with katana coated in chakra. She quickly materialised twin dao blades made of chakra and fended off their strikes.

Her attackers were better swordsmen though and the blonde quickly found herself barely keeping up. It was only within a few exchanges that she slipped up and one of the men scored a hit on her thigh. Realizing that she couldn't keep up in a swordfight, she decided to change things up. Focusing her chakra she manipulated the winds around her into a powerful gust that pushed them away. The moment she was clear of them, she teleported away and got some distance.

Just in time too, as she reappeared to find the place where she had previously been standing had been engulfed by a massive fireball courtesy of a combined jutsu from the four other shinobi.

 _Just waiting for an opening to toast me huh?_ Naru noted excitedly as the thrill of battle sung in her veins. _They're better than I thought. Maybe this won't be boring after all._

Naru glanced down at her wound and felt annoyed. It wasn't healing. At least not as fast as it should be.

 _Fuck, looks like that bastard came up with a new formula for that poison of his. Kurama! Flush it out._

The Esper barely had time to order her tenant to do so when a score of shuriken and kunai rained down upon her. Narrowing her eyes, she let out a burst of her chakra and shaped it into a fiery blue dome. The protective barrier easily shielding her from the weapons which bounced off it without causing any appreciable damage.

 _ **On it, but you know it's going to take some time to adapt to it.**_

 _Now!_

 _ **Fine fine, uppity brat.**_

[Maniforce] didn't have time to scold the fox demon for his attitude though as the girl witnessed all six of her opponents rapidly go through a series of hand signs. Acting with near perfect synchronization, they finished and simultaneously inhaled deeply before each breathing out a large fireball. All this while bizarrely still being able to cry out their attack's name.

" **Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"**

As the six great fireballs of the stupid ninja soared and scorched the air, Naru dropped her barrier.

"Yeah, no."

Unruffled by the deadly incoming attack, the Level 5 calmly raised her right hand in an imitation of a gun and fired off a bullet of her own chakra from her pointer finger. The sphere shot into the conflagration that the six fireballs had by now merged to become. Her chakra quickly mixed with that of the shinobi which was acting as the flames' fuel and extending her control over the chakra conjured construct.

Exploiting that control she shot the attack a single glare while tapping into her power. In response, the fireball exploded into a shower of light and glittering embers. An action that reduced a nearby building into a smoldering ruin.

"Idiots, didn't you do your re-" Naru began gloatingly only to be interrupted when the ground below her cracked open and she was blindsided as one of the shinobi rose from the earth with his blade poised to gut her.

"Whoa!" She cried out, even as she acted on instinct and summoned some of her chakra into the shape of a jian to parry his swift strikes. Like earlier though, she was clearly the inferior swordswoman and she immediately felt pressed.

 _ **Shoulda done kendo.**_

 _Now? Really?_

 _ **Tennis isn't doing much for you.**_

Distracted by her conversation with her inner demon, Naru found herself disarmed in a fluid motion. She hurriedly moved to back off, but her opponent was having none of it. Slashing at her with superhuman speed, he scored a nasty slash on her left arm.

Biting back a cry, the blonde teleported to relative safety at the top of an adjacent building and whistled. "Man forget being ninjas, you guys are straight up Boy Scouts with how prepared you are!"

 _Heal me faster!_

 _ **Trying.**_

The ninjas ignored her flattery and instead made a hand seal in the shape of a cross.

" **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."**

In a second, the area was flooded with smoke. As the smoke cleared Naru frowned as she found herself facing down a small army. One made up of what looked like dozens of clones of her enemy.

"Oh come on! You can make perfect clones? Hax!" She complained, her pigtails in a tizzy. Even she couldn't do that yet.

The shinobi weren't going to give her time to rant though. As without preamble they leapt at her, blades posed to attack.

Naru teleported away, but only to find herself within a few feet of another set of clones. _Shit. They've spread out to cover the whole area._

Even as this realization set in, the shinobi swarmed her.

 _There's no getting away without running away altogether and I'm_ not _doing that! That means, I've gotta fight them in melee._ _I hate to do this, but looks like we're going Panzer._ Naru's pride stung a little that she had to resort to one of her quite literal bigger aces.

 _ **You take my chakra, I'll keep dealing with the poison.**_

 _Right._ The twelve year old acknowledged as she called on her tenant's chakra and molded it into the hulking behemoth that was her Panzer Demon Frame. Encased in her armor, she looked down at the enemies that had by now surrounded her and swung at them.

Her swing clotheslined four of the ninja, three of which popped into smoke from the blow. The last body, one of the actual shinobi apparently, was sent flying even as blood erupted from all over his body. He landed harshly against the side of a building across the street and was reduced to a unrecognisable pile of meat as he settled in the impact crater.

All the shinobi/clones glanced at one another before they suddenly leapt at her once more. This time it was in an effort to dogpile on her twelve foot frame. The corrosive power of the biju's chakra that made up her armor burned them, but they stubbornly clung on.

" **Hey, get off! No free rides!"** Naru shouted as she swung around, throwing off those she could. There were too many of them though and she was soon practically smothered under the dozens of human bodies.

Her flailing around came to an end though as all the clones on top of her abruptly exploded.

The blast left her reeling. Naru herself received no physical damage from this, her Panzar frame was made to handle this type of damage. Sadly, being at the centre of the loud detonation left her ears ringing like she was inside a bell.

Disoriented, she was wide open.

 _ **MOVE!**_

Naru shifted her body to the side and inhaled sharply as she felt a blade sink into her skin, barely missing her heart and scratching her right lung. Acting on pure instinct, she ignored the pain and counterattacked. Spinning around, she swung her massive armored arm downward in a devastating hammer blow, that broke open her assailant's head open like a watermelon.

Stumbling slightly as a result of her sudden turn and the effects of her growing number of wounds, Naru pondered how her Demon Frame's armor had failed her. Eying the newest corpse she noticed the odd gray blade that was coated in her blood.

 _Dark Matter, mother fucking Dark Matter!_ This was Number 4's doing. She just knew it. _I'm going to get back at him for this. I swear it!_

Furious, she stomped on the blade, shattering it to bits.

That bastard Kakine had always hated her, but dealing with the City's enemies just to get at her? He's lost it.

 _ **You can worry about that later!**_ Kurama chided, though it was tinged with a clear note of worry. _**Now I'm taking my chakra back. I need it to keep you from drowning in your own blood.**_

 _Fine, I've got a plan anyway._ Naru landed on her feet as the chakra that comprised the frame was absorbed back into her body. She disappeared in a blink and winced as she reappeared.

 _Hey Kurama, be quick with the healing! The pain's distracting._

 _ **I'm working as fast as I can! Do you want to live or not?**_

She teleported again just as her enemies tried to converge on her location. Barely avoiding a rain of shuriken from one of the faster reacting shinobi. Naru continued to teleport, keeping her distance as Kurama did his handiwork. Each time barely avoiding the ninjas' attacks as they either launched a hail of projectiles her way or charged her.

Each time she teleported she shed hundreds of firefly shaped constructs that appeared as motes of light. To the shinobi it must have seemed like she was losing control of her chakra and had started leaking excess chakra. Whatever they thought, they didn't pay the glowing blue particles any mind even as they slowly covered the entire area.

 _That should be enough._ Naru observed a dozen quick teleports later.

"Hey you bastards! Eat this!"

With that Naru commanded her firefly constructs to life and had them swarm the shinobi. Caught off guard, they slashed at them wildly but didn't do the smart thing and teleport away. This cost them as with a smirk on her face, Naru mentally ordered the swarm to self-destruct.

The result was as if a cluster bomb had went off, explosions blossomed in every nook and cranny. The trap left no room to escape. They would either be killed by the blasts or be injured enough to wish they had. She was peachy with either outcome.

Naru smirked triumphantly, wallowing in her victory when she was interrupted by her demon. _**Spit!**_

 _Wha-_ Naru managed before a surge of nausea that the fox must have been suppressing overcame her. Without any semblance of dignity, the Level 5 was forced to crouch and empty her stomach.

Standing back up, she noticed that a fair bit of her vomit was tinged red.

 _ **It's all the blood that bled into your lungs before I closed that wound up plus what's left of the poison they used.**_ The kyuubi explained. _ **Oh, and your lunch too, I guess.**_

 _Gross._ Naru said with a disgusted groan. _Too much information there, you idiot fox._

 _ **You are what you eat. And that is muffins.**_

 _Oh shut up!_ Naru said in annoyance even as she tuned her tenant out and focused on the aftermath of her earlier attack. From the smoking bodies, it looked like she'd managed to get two of the shinobi with that.

"Only two left." The blonde noted with a smirk. "Now where did those two rats scurry off to?"

"I'm right here, [Demon]!" One of the above mentioned rats shouted, incidentally the one that she had originally chased into this ambush, as he jumped at her from a slightly taller building abutting the one she was on. He had his sword ready for a powerful overhead swing but Naru danced away from that.

Maybe it was because he'd been injured earlier or because he just wasn't as great of a swordsman as his comrades, but he wasn't showing anywhere near the skill of her earlier blade wielding opponents.

Taking advantage of this, she sidestepped another of his swings and exploited one of his many openings. Summoning chakra in a swirling vortex in her palm that she quickly compacted into a small blue orb, she slammed the construct into the man's body. "Eat some Spiral Force."

As the orb made contact with the ninja's chest, the spiraling energy ground away at his body like a powerful drill. It tore through flesh and bone with ease, as it made its slow methodical way to his heart. He cried out in pain, but the blonde didn't stop. She kept pushing the grinding orb even as her body was covered in his blood, only relenting when she had finally managed to shove her palm out through his back.

"There! A perfectly new body window." She grinned viciously and kicked the ninja in his face even as he lived out his final agonising moments. "Enjoy the view."

The young girl turned to search for the last of her enemies and saw him trying to get away.

"No, you don't."

Chains made of chakra burst from her body and wrapped around the man's limbs. Gripping the links, Naru shouted and whipped him right into a partially collapsed wall. His body brought down the remains of it, which crumbled on top of his injured body.

"Nice try, you lot _almost_ killed me. Try harder next time. Now," She tugged on the chains and pulled him to rest at her feet. Stepping on his head, she added menacingly, "We're going to have a nice, long, _painful_ talk. Okay?"

Her ears perked up as she heard a tiny pop. Grabbing a fistful of his hair and bringing them face to face, Naru looked as the broken man smiled twistedly at her even as he started to foam from the mouth.

The asshole had taken a cyanide pill.

"You coward! Taking the bitch way out!" She cursed as she shook the body violently and chucked the spasming dead man to the ground. "Son of a whore!"

She kicked him in the ribs. He might not have felt it, as he had already stopped moving, but Naru certainly found it cathartic.

Brushing some of her bangs out of her face, the blonde took a deep breath. She coughed up some more blood. "Great, this is going to be fun to explain...actually, zero shits given."

[Maniforce] started to walk back to the Big Spider base. Hopefully everyone else had an easier time than she did.

* * *

By the time Naru got back, it was clear that the situation on their end had been dealt with.

"What happened to you?!" Misaka-sempai nearly shrieked as she raced over to the blonde. This gathered everyone else's attention, including Anti-Skill's as well. They weren't the only authorities they had showed up though.

 _Ugh!_ Naru rubbed her eyes in annoyance as she recognised the group that had showed up with Anti-Skill. "Just what I need. Ladylee's bird squad."

"I guess you had more trouble than expected?" Saten said in a shocked voice.

 _They're still stuck on that? Can't they just let it go? I'm fine._

The blond looked down at her appearance and back at Saten. "It's the blood of my enemies?"

At that moment, she coughed up a glob of blood which proceeded to trickle down her face.

"Really?" Shirai asked skeptically.

Misaka-sempai pulled out a handkerchief and started to wipe her face. "What the hell hit you? A Semi?"

Naru looked away and muttered. "They ganged up on me and had ways to counter my moves. Happy? Now stop babying me."

"After you get some first-aid!"

"I'm already healing! I'm stupidly durable you know."

"It's true, you'd have to cut off her head if you wanted to beat her." A serious voice said. "She's that much of a pest."

A girl with a rather slim physique stepped forward. She had a beautiful face, long straight black hair, and cold black eyes. She wore a tight-fitting bodysuit with gray, white and red details, the uniform of the Black Crow Unit of which she was the leader.

Shutaura Sequenzia, Naru's personal frienemy in all things related to the Dark Side.

"Sequenzia-san," Saten greeted coolly, even as she continued to eye Naru in guilty concern.

 _Is there anyone in this City who Saten-chan doesn't know?_

Shutaura gave Saten a cold glance, not even bothering to return the greeting. Instead, she focused on Naru.

"You look like garbage."

"Watch it, whoever you are." Misaka-sempai glared at the older girl.

"She's the leader of a private security organization that helps to maintain and preserve order in Academy City. One with a powerful backer and an unusual level of influence." Saten explained.

"It's why they have those fancy leap frog tanks. Now stop giving away free information, Saten-chan, please?" Saten crossed her arms in annoyance, but nodded. "Now what do you want, Shutaura?" Naru rolled her eyes, she wasn't in the mood to play their usual little games.

"Hmph. We're here for the _prisoners."_ The older girl finished by shooting a look at Misaka-sempai and Shirai.

 _Aw crap, I knew I was forgetting something._ Naru cursed herself at her oversight for not trying to cover up the fact that she'd just slaughtered a bunch of people. While she and Saten might be chill about things like that, it came with being a Dark Sider, the others were not.

The blonde was thus grateful for Shutaura covering for her. That said she wasn't about to let the other girl walk away with what she'd worked hard for without a fight. Narrowing her eyes dangerously, she grabbed Shutaura's wrist and pulled her to the side. In a hushed whisper she said. "Those are my kills."

"Ladylee-sama tasked us to collect them so she can study their corpses."

"My facility is better suited for that!" She hissed at the older girl.

Shutaura glared sternly, showing she wasn't going to budge. "Ladylee-sama and the Superintendent struck a deal."

The blonde deflated at this. If Aleister agreed to it, there wasn't much Naru could do.

That was not to say she wasn't going to just let this go without at least getting something out of it.

"I want a hand."

Shutaura looked flummoxed at this. "I'm sorry?"

Naru crossed her arms, pouting with all her might. "I said I want a hand. I killed them, I deserve a trophy."

"You can't have a hand!" Shutaura hissed at her.

"Fine fine, a ear?"

"No!" Shutaura replied irritably. "We are taking all the corpses and remains."

"A tooth or no deal. I did all the hard work after all."

"Do not make me call Crowley!" Shutaura threatened, her eyebrow twitching in annoyance.

 _Well I guess the game's over._ Naru thought to herself with a mental smirk. _Too bad. I was having fun. Seeing Shutaura get so flustered might just be better than getting a trophy._

"Spoilsport." Naru muttered as a parting shot before walking away, earning herself another twitching brow from the usually serious older girl.

 _Another point to me._

* * *

"Are you sure you don't need a paramedic?" Shirai asked Naru worriedly as the blond walked back to rejoin the others.

"Healing. Factor. I'm a big girl, Shirai-chan. I can take the pain." Naru declared, before changing the topic. "Where's my minion? Or Konori-san?"

A pouting Saten gestured towards where Kurozuma was letting himself be arrested by Konori.

"What? No. My minion's being arrested! I just got him!" Naru complained and then paused as an idea came to her. Her lips formed a sly smile and she turned to her fellow Tokiwadai first year. "Sa-ten-chan~!"

At her singsong voice, the girl glanced at her.

"I've got an idea, wanna hear?"

"Sure." [Multi-Skill] said skeptically.

Naru whispered into her ear and Saten nodded, her unhappy expression clearing up.

"Excellent."

 _This is going to be good!_

Misaka-sempai narrowed her eyes at the two. "What are you girls plotting?"

The two girls smiled at her. "Nothing Sempai!"

* * *

 **Omake: Naru's Fluffy Research**

There had always been a topic that Namikaze Naru had difficulty wrapping her head around.

The concept of love.

She had been curious about this topic ever since she met the 'spiritual' imprints of her parents a few years back.

If the blonde was honest, it was a struggle to grasp this nebulous concept.

It was something that philosophers and scholars of every description had tried to unravel for centuries to no real tangible result. But most of them at least had the chance to experience the emotion at some point in their lives. Naru however had not been so lucky.

So how did someone who never truly felt love understand it?

Fortunately, as a child of the information age, she had one of the greatest tools ever created by man at her disposal. The internet.

The sheer number of hits she got just by searching with the keywords 'What is love?' was mind boggling. And this was excluding links to that annoying song that trolled the internet and other irrelevant hits. As such Naru had plenty of material with which to start learning what love was.

Or at least what making love meant.

For whilst the internet was full of useful information, it was also plagued with porn and the young blonde had watched many, many videos since she had started on this quest for understanding at the tender age of nine.

Softcore, hardcore, and a dozen niche fetishes besides, Naru had seen it all.

Though when she came across the word furry, she was confused.

 _Is this porn too? What's it about?_ The blonde pondered as she looked up from the screen of her laptop to shoot a quick glance at her roommate. _Awatsuki-chan is asleep, so I guess it's safe to check it out._

Clicking on the video, she slipped on her rabbit themed headphones - just in case - and watched curiously as the video started.

"Okay, so how is this porn? They're just in animal costumes." She asked out loud as the video starting playing. Waiting patiently she continued to see how this was going to develop. She was just about to lose interest when the scene on her monitor began to get 'interesting'.

"Why is she putting a horse's bridle in her mouth? And why is she letting him ride her like a pony?" She breathed out in a whisper, her eyes widened in confusion and uneasiness

As the woman on the screen started making neighing sounds, Naru's confusion grew and her uneasiness transformed into the beginnings of fear. Quickly, she clicked another random video to save herself.

This one started off with two people dressed as rabbits, goofy masks and all.

"That's not sexy. She's not even dressed like a Playboy Bunny. Note to self, get one of those outfits. Now, why does he have that bag of carrots-Oh my god!" She snapped her laptop closed in haste.

Carrots aren't supposed to go in that way!

At her exclamation, Awatsuki-chan stirred awake. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, the bluenette looked at her roommate and asked in a mixture of surprise and concern. "Are you alright, Namikaze-san?"

"Awatsuki-chan…" Naru said, as if she had seen horrors no little girl should. "The internet is scary."

"Ah, okay?" The Level 3 replied uncertainly.

"Uh, just ignore me, Awatsuki-chan. I just overreacted to something I saw on the net is all."

"Ah ok." The other girl said sleepily as she snuggled back under her covers. "Be careful about that."

Naru waited in silence for a couple of minutes and when Awatsuki-chan didn't stir, she breathed a sigh of relief.

 _I'm going to stick to the normal fetishes like BDSM from now on, some things are just too horrifying to witness._

With that resolution in mind, she opened her laptop once more and searched for one of her favorite softcore videos.

After her scare earlier, the Level 5 needed something to calm her nerves.

A few minutes, something hit her. _Wait, didn't Kurozuma say-That son of a bitch!_

* * *

 **Dat bug has been splattered like it hit a Semi! Like Naru.**

 **Thanks to the team of Nameless and Ith as usual. Man, this one took a bit to do. I think we did it justice.**

 **Naru's fight was the most intriguing part. It's tough giving a Level 5 a hard time unless it's against Touma or another Level 5. Or a Saint, or you know, one of the list of other things that's stupidly broken in this verse! The only reason the shinobi got so close to killing her was because they had** _ **counters**_ **against her. I mean, look at what that Kihara did to Accel? He knew his powers and how to counter it with a fist to the face! It's like that stuff guys. But more evil ninja-y things. Like poison, weapons, dark dealings (over matter), and sneak attacks. Tell us what you think of giving our character a challenge.**

 **Nameless: Yeah, we had a review that reminded us we needed to do that. So here it is. Naru challenged. The others will get theirs later.**

 **As for the lack of character development that some people want for Naru, this arc was mainly to establish her. Her background, views, and hints of what's to come. We do have an arc for her development in the future, you just have to wait and see.**

 **Nameless: On another note, why is Saten upset in the epilogue bits? Well, recall how she basically said Naru would be fine only to have her come back bloodied? Well, she's basically feeling guilty about not helping Naru.**

 **And, as for the mention in the omake about the meeting between Naru and her parents? Well, consider it a little something to look forward to. We assure you that we'll show the scene though.**

 **E4E: We kinda have to, it'd be rude not to!**

 **We also introduced Shutaura! When will she return? You'll see, just know that a frenemy is both a blessing and a curse. Spooky~!**

 **Nameless: So ends the Big Spider arc, hope you guys like it.**

 **Now smash that review button and show us the love! No flames please and peace out my peeps!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Seven: Level 5 Top Idol**

 **Beta:**

* * *

Inside a large glasshouse like structure on the grounds of the Tokiwadai Exterior Dormitory, Naru and Saten were examining a massive ice sculpture. The carving was a large scaled model of the whole City that was precise and accurate to an astounding degree. It was designed to serve as the showpiece display of the abilities of the school's students, in particular those with temperature control and elemental manipulation type powers, during the upcoming Midsummer Festival.

Naru whistled, looking impressed as she gestured to the climate controlled glasshouse around them that Saten had created using Dark Matter. "I always find it nifty how you use Dark Matter."

[Multi-Skill] just shrugged as she stopped to examine a particular section of the sculpture in detail.

"I'm serious, you at least do it for a better cause than the Assmuppet himself."

"Do I even want to know?"

"Let's just say, he's selling things he shouldn't." The petite blonde frowned, but bounced right back and tapped the 'glass' gently a few times. "We should do projects together more often. This is a nice change of pace for us. By the way, why do you use Dark Matter so much anyways?"

"It annoys Accel." Saten admitted unapologetically, not noticing the quirked brow that her fellow Level 5 gave her at that.

"You know, I think you're the only person who refers to him in a friendly way."

"Possibly." Saten replied as she used some cryokinesis to correct something in the sculpture. "I might be his only friend."

"I can only imagine." Naru dryly noted. The Number 1 wasn't exactly the most friendly guy around.

Just then a couple of other Tokiwadai students walked up to them. Unlike the two Level 5s who were simply wearing their normal uniforms, they were bundled up in Winter clothes to fend off the cold of the temperature controlled environment.

"Saten-sama, Namikaze-sama." The other two girls greeted. "If you're here, we'll make our move."

"Yeah, you do that." Naru confirmed cheerfully. "We've got this shift covered. No imperfection will escape us!"

Both lower ranked Espers giggled at Naru's antics as they offered a polite bow and left.

"Hmm." Saten hummed as the other girls got out of sight, and she finished using a scanning power to check over the entire sculpture. "Looks like everything else is in order."

"Your power is bullshit convenient, you know that right? Hell, you just did our job in like under a minute while using another power to fight off the cold."

Naru had meant it as a compliment, but Saten just huffed in annoyance. And she meant it and did it believably too. The blonde was impressed by that alone. "Considering how versatile that 'chakra' energy of yours is, I don't think you have any room to complain. After all, couldn't you use it to scan the sculpture as well and aren't you using it right now to fight off the chill?"

"Yeah, well. But do you know how difficult it was to learn how to do things like that? Or any new trick?" Naru shot back defensively. "All you have to do to learn a new application is to find someone who knows how."

Saten sent Naru a withering look, something that her still somewhat mechanical mannerisms just made more unnerving. "And you know what that will cost me."

"Right. Sorry." Naru said abashedly. She knew full well that each new esper that Saten copied just put more pressure on her already overloaded mind. Realizing she'd just made a major faux pas with her friend - could she call her that? - the Number 2 quickly looked around to find some way to change the subject.

"Erm, so what do you want to do?" Naru said, trying to pass the baton of responsibility over their conversation to her companion. "We've got another hour before the next shift comes in to do their rounds."

By Saten's unimpressed look - or was it just her default look, it was hard to tell - the other girl knew what she was doing but played along anyway. "I don't know why they bother so much. They just need you and I to check up on it every once in awhile, and it should be fine. After all, didn't we make the majority of it in the first place?"

"Because they'd like as many people to help out as possible? It's a festival, so perhaps the school wants to show off what other students can do too?" Naru listed off. "It's not just about us."

"It's inefficient." Saten countered, sounding just a tiny bit annoyed. "I hate inefficiency."

"Welcome to humanity, we're all inefficient."

Saten huffed. "I know. Sometimes I honestly wish I was a robot."

"And Uiharu-chan would smack you upside the head for being an idiot and talking like that." Naru scowled at the girl. "Don't turtle up on that will you? Because if you keep saying it, well either do it or don't. But either way, just remember how your family would feel."

"I was joking…" Saten trailed off, sounding confused. "Didn't I sound like I was?"

"By the floating man himself, no, you didn't." Naru slumped her shoulders. "Make a mental note, we've gotta work on that."

"Noted." Saten said in a robotic voice, even as she pouted.

"That's not funny." Naru chided. "Though your pout's gotten better. It doesn't seem forced anymore. Still a little wooden though."

"Sorry. And thanks."

"Not a problem, you _are_ paying me." Naru said with a goofy smile as she thought of all the sugary treats the brunette was offering her as payment to help her be more human.

The two entered into a companionable silence after that as they strolled around the ice sculpture. It wasn't necessary since Saten had already scanned the whole thing with her powers, but with nothing better to do, the two girls was taking it as a chance for a walk.

"You know," Saten whispered after a few minutes. "Uiharu, Misaka-sempai and Shirai-san suspect you killed those Shinobi back during the Big Spider Incident. Sequenzia-san isn't that great at convincing people."

The blonde gave her a sharp look. She didn't want to talk about this. Nonetheless, Saten demonstrated her lack of social graces by failing to pick up on the cue. Or maybe she was just doing it deliberately, frankly the blonde couldn't tell.

"You should come clean with them, they'll understand. They're special like that."

Naru let out a bitter laugh. "Please, as if civilians would understand what we've done. Unlike you, I'm not retired and I'm still going to have to butcher some more pigs in the future. You think they'd accept me if I continued?"

The Number 3 was silent at this, unable to refute the shorter girl.

Despite the rather dark turn the conversation had taken, Naru happily skipped ahead to the docks area of the sculpture. "Besides, they're not so skittish around me anymore. Soon they'll forget all about it."

"Until the next time."

"It's an unavoidable problem and the next time I'll just be more careful." Naru rolled her eyes. "You're being so argumentative today. What's gotten into you?"

"...Can't I worry for a friend?"

The Number 2 looked at her strangely at this before looking away to glance at her reflection in the 'glass'.

"Friend huh?"

* * *

"I can't believe I let them talk me into this." Naru grumbled as she reflected on her predicament.

Said predicament amounted to her personal faction setting up an Alice in Wonderland theme cafe as part of their participation in the Midsummer Festival. As such, as the leader of the Rabbit Faction, the blonde had been cast as the role of the cafe's Alice.

To that effect, here she was on the day of the Festival, dressed in a light blue dress with puffy shoulders, a white apron, a pair of black mary janes and white stockings. Tucked under her arm was a white rabbit plush of hers that had been dressed in a rather snazzy red jacket made by one of her followers. Her long hair was kept in it's standard pigtails, though she did go for a princess curl on them.

Her loyal bunnies had wanted her to look just like the Disney version of the classic character and offered to style her hair accordingly, but that was where Naru put her foot down. No one messed with the hair!

 _Honestly, as if I'd let them!_

Kurama gave a shudder from inside his prison at that and began mumbling about monsters with a hair obsession. In response, Naru gave him a mental kick to the side, which he just rolled with without even waking up. Snorting at his ability to sleep through practically anything, she resolved to ignore him for the rest of the day.

Putting that into action, she turned her attention outward and looked on as her faction members scurried around the converted conference room as they made final checks and changes to their cafe.

 _They sure put a lot of effort into this didn't they?_

It wasn't just the girls from the Rabbit Faction either, her friends did too. Apparently, Misaka-sempai, Shirai-chan and Saten had tried to help her out with this. The three had sat the organizers behind the cafe down at some point and talked to them - more like threatened - to make sure that they wouldn't go overboard and make her feel uncomfortable. She was surprised, even slightly touched though she'd never admit it, by what they'd done. Not that she was supposed to know about it. [Railgun]-sempai and her teleporting sidekick had thought to keep their involvement a secret, but Naru had found out anyway. Saten _was_ an info broker after all. And all it had cost was a promise to cover Uiharu's next trip to Pasticceria Manicagni.

Not that her faction hadn't put in loads of hard work too. The fact they were dressed in cute maid outfits themed as other iconic Alice characters such as the White Rabbit, the Dormouse, the Red Queen, the Cheshire Cat and so on, was proof of that. They had hand sewn the costumes. Even most of the cafe's very impressive decorations were handicrafts that the girls had made. Naru was impressed with their dedication.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when the PA system went off.

" **Welcome all guests to the annual Tokiwadai Midsummer Festival! Please feel free to tour the dormitory to your heart's content. We have a wide variety of both events and booths, so be sure to take a peek at as many as you can! So without further ado, as Principal of Tokiwadai Middle School I declare the Festival open! Please enjoy the festivities."**

With that announcement, it was like the floodgates were opened. Within the first hour alone, hundreds of patrons streamed into Naru's cafe. To say that it was vastly popular would be something of an understatement. If Saten, who was put in charge of the AV team and thus free to roam the grounds, was to be believed - and Naru definitely did - it was in fact the most popular of the attractions. Well besides the dozens of kids chasing the hovering camera drones around the place, but since those were Saten's toys she imagined the other Level 5 was being biased about their popularity.

The blonde was pleased that the cafe was such a success but it was getting a little overwhelming, so she was glad that after that first hour she'd managed to score a break. Something that she was currently enjoying by strolling about the Tokiwadai Dormitory, advertising the cafe to all the visitors she passed. She might be on break but that didn't mean she couldn't still help out, she was a hard worker after all.

And an effective walking advertisement too if the multiple compliments on her cuteness and the promises she'd got to visit the cafe were any indication.

"Ah, Namikaze-san!" Naru heard the voice of Awatsuki-chan call out over the din of the crowd just as she finished giving directions to the cafe to a visitor. Turning towards the voice, she spotted her roommate walking towards her with Wannai-chan and Kongou-chan. The last of which was wearing a rather daring red outfit that blended the miko and maid themes.

"Whoa, Kongou-chan, loving the outfit. Where'd you get that?"

 _ **Wherever she did, keep her away from me!**_ Kurama practically screamed as he saw the girl through Naru's vision. _**I don't want her to make me sit.**_

 _Oh it was just an anime, you big fox baby!_

 _ **Still, not taking the risk. Make her stay away. Please!**_

Rolling her eyes mentally at her prisoners' antics, Naru ignored him and focused on the outside world.

Kongou-chan let out a laugh as she snapped open her fan. "My personal tailor of course. And thank you for the compliment. I must say, your outfit is very western classic. Most fitting for a halfa such as yourself."

Naru smiled in kind at the compliment. Most people assumed she was largely of Caucasian descent due to her blue eyes and blonde hair. Considering it made for a good cover to explain away her otherworldly origins, it was decided early on to run with it.

"You two play off each other too well." Shirai-chan dryly noted as she walked up to them with a few pamphlets in her hands.

Awatsuki-chan and Wannai-chan nodded in agreement to this, though where Shirai-chan scowled at the observation the other two girls were smiling.

"I'm happy they're getting along though." Awatsuki-chan giggled.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" The Teleporter couldn't help but ask aloud as the two vain girls continued their exchange of compliments.

* * *

As Ruiko approached the backstage of the auditorium where she and the rest of the Trinity were to be performing, she couldn't help but be a little worried about Misaka-sempai. The older girl had been extremely tense the whole day. Apparently she was nervous about the performance, though Ruiko couldn't fathom why. She'd heard the Electromaster play the violin before and the older girl had nothing to worry about.

If anyone had to worry, it was probably herself. After all, this was the first time she was singing in front of an audience that wasn't made up of her friends and family. Sure, they had all complimented her on her voice when she had - even saying that she might have a future as a professional singer or idol - but considering their relation to her, she figured they were biased. That said, she was still confident that she was at least good enough to not embarrass herself. Too much, at least.

She was just about to open the door to the backstage area when it slammed open and [Imagine Breaker] ran out. If she had been less nimble on her feet, he might have crashed into her and done who knew what kind of damage to her with that right hand of his. Thankfully, she was able to gracefully pirouette out of the way and he ran pass her with a apologetic cry her way.

She had known that he was visiting the festival and even his relative location throughout thanks to the AV club's camera drones which she had been given control of, but she had no idea what had just set him running like he was being chased by a rabid dog. It tingled her curiosity, but she set it aside for now. She had a more pressing matter at the moment.

So with a silent prayer to whatever deity was listening - unscientific sure, but it was a nod to her biological parents who had been true believers - that Naru-san didn't accidental bump into him with that hazzardous right hand of his, she stepped into the building. The blonde was as likely to come out of such an encounter as badly as she would.

Spotting Misaka-sempai, she turned away from such morbid thoughts. She was pleased to note that the older girl seemed to have calmed down quite a bit since she'd last seen her. The [Railgun] was wearing a rather simple white dress that flowed down to her ankles and was held up on her shoulders by a pair of black straps. The top and waist were trimmed black and the whole outfit was completed by a black choker, a blue bow ribbon, a handful of lilies that were worked into her hair and a pair of glass slippers. The latter serving to add a fairytale vibe to it. Overall, Ruiko thought her schoolmates were right in saying that it looked good on Misaka-sempai.

Before she could say anything though, the Number 5 spotted her too and blanched. " _What_ are you wearing!?"

Ruiko looked down at her wine colored dress. The top half of her dress consisted of a corset with white ruffles on top while the skirt shimmered thanks to the skillfully embedded crystal fragments. Along her arms, she wore opera gloves, trimmed off with more white ruffles. The outfit was completed by a matching headpiece that worked alongside her ubiquitous hairpin to keep her hair out of her face.

"A dress. What's the matter with it?" The Number 3 replied with a frown.

"It looks like the one that your Angel mode thingy wears! Don't you think it's in poor taste?"

 _Poor taste? Huh?_ Ruiko didn't get what was the problem. "Why is that an issue? The only potential problem is that it might be a little overly extravagant since it's a ballgown."

"No it's not!"

Ruiko frowned. What was Misaka-sempai's problem?

"This is a treasured gift from Kaa-san and my favorite dress. Do you have a problem with it?" Ruiko asked cooly, her temper piqued.

The Number 5 seemed to deflate at that. "It's fine then, I guess. You're such a total mommy's girl, though, you know that right?"

"I do and am proud of it."

Misaka-sempai just sighed in resignation at that. "I can't win with you."

 _Not on this matter, no._ Ruiko agreed even as she gave her older friend a nod.

"So you're not nervous anymore. Care to explain?" Ruiko asked in what she hoped was a teasing voice.

By the look on the Electromaster's face she hadn't pulled it off. Thankfully, she didn't comment on that though and instead answered her question. "I'm not sure myself. I just managed to calm down after a run in with a pesky acquaintance of mine."

"Is that so?" Ruiko replied with a knowing look.

"Whatever you're thinking, it isn't like that!" Misaka-sempai shot back while blushing terribly.

"Whatever you say Sempai, whatever you say. By the way," The AIM manipulator said, changing the topic. "Thank you for showing Uiharu around earlier. We both really appreciate it."

The other Level 5 just shrugged. "It was my job as an usher, wasn't it? Besides, you were busy with the AV club and she's a friend."

"Nonetheless, thank you."

"There's no need to thank me for every little thing." Misaka-sempai shook her head in amusement. "If you did, there would be no end to it."

"Sorry I'm late!" Naru cried as she barged into the backstage area, hopping on her feet as she finished putting on a shoe. The Alice costume that she had been wearing most of the day had been replaced by a black gothic lolita outfit that made her look like a precious china doll. She complemented it with arm sleeves with multiple bows running down the side and a frilly headpiece much like Ruiko's. "I was busy signing stuff for my fans."

"Lame excuse, Baka-Usagi." Misaka-sempai chided the petite blonde. "And you interrupted our conversation."

"I can't help if I appreciate _my_ fans unlike my black hearted Sempai." Naru replied with a shrug.

"Who's black hearted?!"

"Come on, Naru-san, don't rile Sempai up. Please?" Ruiko asked politely, before turning to the second year and offering her a way out of Naru's trap. "And Sempai, we were done talking anyways. I take your point."

Naru-san just pouted. "Fine, ruin my fun. Got those man hands all limbered up, Sempai?"

"...I'm going to kill her, after a good amount of torture first." The [Railgun] murmured, her eye twitching.

Ruiko sighed. It looked like Sempai was completely caught up in Naru's pace. Again. Honestly, why did she bother trying to help her?

"Naru-san!"

"Fine fine, I take it back. She has lovely lady fingers...and now I'm hungry." Naru-san rubbed her stomach. "For all the work I did for the cafe, I didn't even get a single sweet. It's an injustice I tell you. An injustice!"

"Are you ready to sing or not?!" Misaka-sempai snapped as she gripped her violin tightly.

"Yes, yes, don't get all tangled up, Sempai."

Ruiko gave her a blank look. "Must you play your games?"

"It's a hobby by this point."

"Don't you talk as if I'm not here!"

"Hai hai, Sempai!" The two underclassman chorused in reply. Ruiko caught herself as she finished, and if she was less in control of herself would have facepalmed. It looked liked she had been caught up in Naru's pace as well.

 _She truly is incredibly manipulative._

"Get those lazy butts in gear, we've got a show to do!" Misaka-sempai said, looking fired up.

Ruiko looked at the short blonde. "Did you do that on purpose?"

"Duh, she was nervous. So I gave her something to motivate her to get her head in shape."

 _I'm not sure she needed it though. Not after her run in with [Imagine Breaker]._

"...You are so strange."

Naru grinned, as if taking it as a compliment.

The girls got into position. Misaka-sempai stood a bit in the back, her violin at the ready, as the two freshmen stood up front while wearing headsets with built in mics.

The curtains drew open and the girls could see the vast crowd gathered around for the show featuring the Level 5s. Ruiko felt a burst of nerves bubbling up in her stomach, but thanks to years of practice she easily shunted the pesky emotion to the back of her mind.

She felt Naru-san bump her hip against her own while giving her a confident smirk. Having caught her attention, the blonde mouthed: We've got this. Ruiko just nodded, appreciative of the encouragement even if it was not strictly required.

Behind them Misaka-sempai began to play her violin slowly and soothingly. Just like they had rehearsed, the two younger girls began to sing.

 _Neraisadameta yubisaki ga sasu_

 _Unmei wa zetsubou? sore to mo kibou?_

(I point my finger at my chosen target.

Is its fate despair? or is it hope?)

Ruiko scanned the crowd as she and Naru stepped away from each other and to either side of the stage. She spotted Uiharu and Shirai-san near the front. Konori-sempai was there too and even Wataru-san was skulking unseen in the shadows. It looked like all her friends were here. Now, if only her Kaa-san and siblings could be here too then everything would be perfect.

Pushing aside the slightly depressing thought, Ruiko continued with the routine she and the others had practiced so hard over the past week to master. Turning as they reached either end of the stage, Ruiko and Naru made their right hands into finger guns and aimed them at each other. As they did, Ruiko caught the blonde shooting her an encouraging smile. She was fairly sure that the other girl didn't realize the sad line of thought she'd just had, but seeing the smile buoyed her nonetheless. Just as the second verse of the sound was about to begin, both girls used their powers and released a burst of what looked like fireworks from their right pointer fingers.

 _Yuragi no naka de jushin shiteyuku_

 _Kanashimi ni mo makenai_

 _yuuki dake o kudasai_

(Amidst the interference, I receive a signal.

Please give me the courage

to not be defeated by sadness)

As the shower of lights died, the two girls twirled until they were side by side in the center of the stage like they had been at the start of the performance. Clasping their hands together, they moved onto the next verse in perfect unison.

 _Taisetsu na mono mamoru tame_

 _"Tsuyosa" wa aru to shinjiteru_

(To protect that what is important,

I must believe that I have strength)

Letting go of each other, the two spun towards the stage's edge and raised their left hands palm open into the air while they clenched their right over their hearts. As one, they released another burst of fireworks that flew directly over the heads of the audience. If they had been normal fireworks, it would have been beyond dangerous but both girls had made it a point to only use something that looked like it but was a lot safer. Raw chakra in Naru's case and harmless glowing Dark Matter in Ruiko's.

 _Saving our future issho ni_

 _ashita e no doa hiraita sora e tobitatou_

(Saving our future together,

let's soar to the sky through the open door to tomorrow)

Originally when they were working on the choreography of the performance, they had wanted to fly at this part of the song, but with the school insisting they wear dresses for the performance, that would have led to a major wardrobe malfunction on stage.

So instead, they created constructs to do the flying for them.

Naru-san released bright avians made out of her natural energy while Ruiko made metallic birds out of Dark Matter.

 _To aru sekai no hate de_

 _kakenuketeku real force_

 _hikari o hanatte!_

(At the end of a certain world,

a real force is flowing.

Release the light!)

The birds flew into the sky, swirling around each other. Mid-way through the verse, they burst into particles of lights and showered the audience in a beautiful display of rainbow light.

As Misaka-sempai stopped her playing and the freshman ended their singing, the crowd broke out into wild applause.

Looking into the crowd, which Ruiko had largely forgotten was even there by this point, she was surprised to see the looks of disbelief on the faces of many of her schoolmates.

Maybe things were beginning to change for the better.

* * *

 **Done and done, in a single sit down. Wow! Thanks to Nameless.**

 **Nameless: I couldn't believe it either. But we did it. Partly it's because it's a short chapter, but still it's impressive.**

 **Less than 5k words short! We never do that...Ever.**

 **Nameless: So onto the developments in the story. There was plenty of character development that happened between the lines here. Especially between Naru and Saten. I wonder if you can spot it. Here's a hint, it's shown in how they address each other. Keep in mind that Japanese have a hierarchy of terms of address, mainly using suffixes, that denote relative intimacy in their relationships. So any change in that reflects a change in the relationship. Hopefully, that's enough of a clue.**

 **Love, moe fanservice, maids! This chapter gifted us with that and more! Friendship statuses have risen, like Facebook statuses, but more meaningful. Anyway, the girls showed off that they can sing with Mikoto being the supportive sempai for her lil Kohai. Personally felt that scene needed some vocals to it, but it was still a nice scene. Next thing you know, it's going to turn into a idol spinoff manga. Naru and Saten go on tour! Idol Duo for life! Mikoto can be in the background.**

 **Nameless: I agree that the song scene might have needed more vocals, but the full sound is kinda long. So yeah. Anyways, choreographing their performance was fun. Hope you enjoyed it.**

 **Well, you know what to do, smash that review button! Tell us what you liked and no flames please! Peace off my peeps!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Eight: Wiedervereinigung von Gespenstern**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

As was quickly becoming the norm, the chief of the 177th Judgement Branch Office, Konori Mii, was playing hostess to the Trinity of Tokiwadai, or at least that's what the trio of Level 5s were being called all over the net lately. Said trio were currently lounging on the sofas in the branch's small rest area as they waited for their friends and Mii's subordinates, Uiharu-chan and Kuroko-chan to finish their shift. Like they so often did, the girls were planning to hang out and had decided the branch was the perfect gathering point.

The senior Judgement agent knew she probably should have kicked up some kind of fuss at the girls' actions, even if it was just a token protest, since she was certain it was clearly stated in the rules that access to Judgement facilities by civilians was restricted. She honestly didn't feel up to it, though. Since if she was in their place, she'd probably be doing the same thing. Which was just as well since as Level 5s the girls wouldn't have listened to her anyway. So rather than wasting her effort trying to be a stickler for the rules, she instead chose to be a gracious host.

"Here you go girls." Mii said as she opened a can of biscuits and offered them to the Level 5s.

"Thanks Sempai." Namikaze-san replied in the chipper tone she favored.

"Thank you," Misaka-san offered in that naturally refined way that she fell into when she was relaxed and didn't feel the need to assert herself by being such a tomboy.

Saten-san just nodded in thanks and promptly picked out a selection of Uiharu-chan's favorites and moved over to her best friend's work station to share it with her.

 _Typical Saten-san._ Mii noted with an amused shake of her head. _Always putting Uiharu-chan first._

"Oi, Saten! Can you be less whipped?" Namikaze-san teased.

The aforementioned girl shook it off though, and just rolled her eyes at the blonde. Oddly, this seemed to please the Number 2 who promptly broke into a satisfied smile.

"Must you tease everyone?" The oldest of the Tokiwadai girls said reprovingly.

Namikaze-san just shrugged. The Electromaster seemed unsatisfied by that answer and bristled, letting loose a handful of sparks as she glared at her kohai.

 _Time to step in._

"So," Mii cut in with a loud voice that got everyone's attention. "That performance you three gave during the Midsummer Festival was amazing. How long did you have to practice for it?"

The blonde and her chestnut haired sempai ignored her question, but took it as the cue it was to knock it off and with a final glare both huffed before looking away. Saten-san however was polite enough to actually supply an answer.

"About twelve hours over the course of a week." The [AIM Sovereign] explained in the overly detailed way she oft used.

"And that's not including all the time that you three spent on the choreography." Kuroko-chan chimed in as she finished the last of her work and came into the rest area. "That had to have been another what? Six hours?"

"It was actually only four and-"

Saten's precise answer was cut off by Uiharu-chan elbowing her side.

"Well, I think every minute of that practice was worth it. You guys did a great job." The computer whiz said, adding her two cents.

"Agreed. Though it was billed as a performance by Tokiwadai's Level 5s wasn't it?" The students of said school nodded. "So where was the fourth Level 5, [Mental Out]?"

"Misaki-sempai refused to take part." Naru explained. "She hates sharing the limelight, so she skipped the whole Festival."

Misaka-san snorted at that. "That's just her standard bullshit excuse."

"Oh definitely." The blonde agreed. "Personally, I think she just wanted to get out of the cosplaying. She doesn't like it. No idea why though, it's great."

"It's not for everybody." Uiharu-chan offered.

"True. But I'd have thought that deviant would love it." Kuroko-chan cut in derisively.

Namikaze-san's eyes narrowed dangerously as she turned to face the teleporter. "Shirai-chan, are you implying my hobby is a deviant one?"

The Level 4 panicked at this and quickly shot looks around the room for help from the others. She was met with stony faces though, with even Misaka-san unwilling to help her roommate.

 _You dug this hole all on your own, Kuroko-chan. You'll need to find your own way out of it._

Fortunately for the tawny haired girl, she was saved from the grilling she deserved by a knock from the door and a male voice. "Excuse me."

 _That voice sounds familiar._

It appeared that she wasn't the only one who felt the same as Saten-san reacted to hearing it by nodding at the door and unlocking it with her powers. A moment later, the door was opened and Mii was greeted with the sight of a mass of messy red hair that she'd recognize anywhere.

"Yo, Mii." Wataru-sempai greeted with a cheeky grin as he strolled into the office like he owned the place.

"S-Sempai?!" Mii stammered in surprise. _Wasn't he in jail?!_ "What are you doing here?"

She wasn't the only one surprised by the man's sudden appearance. Almost everyone startled at the sight of him too. All except Namikaze-san and Saten-san.

"I'm looking for the stoic lil lady-ah! Yo, Saten-chan. Glad I found ya."

Saten-chan just quirked an eyebrow. "Why didn't you just call me if you were looking for me?"

Smiling in awkward embarrassment, Wataru-sempai gingerly pulled out a ruined cellphone from his pocket and waved it in the air.

"That was made for extreme environments." Saten-chan pointed out in monotone, seemingly shocked by the development and thus defaulting to her basic mechanical mannerisms.

The man shrugged.

"Did you at least get the job done?" The Number 3 asked with a sigh, having recomposed herself.

"Of course!" Wataru-sempai assured her, before he caught sight of the packet of milk that Mii had on her desk. "Ah, Musashino."

Mii could guess what he was about to do and tried to protest but was too slow.

"Thanks! See ya gals." The red head former Skill-Out declared as he snagged the milk and walked out the door before Mii could even open her mouth.

"I'll wire you the payment later! And some money for a new phone!" Saten-chan called after him, earning a faint 'Okay' in reply.

Getting over her shock at seeing her Sempai free, Mii rounded on Saten-chan.

"Explain, now." The senior Judgement agent demanded sternly.

Saten-san merely pointed at Namikaze-san, "It was her idea."

Mii rounded on the little girl, hands on her hips.

"Hey, that Akai-Baka deserved better than getting locked up in jail. So I made a call and got him out and he'll stay out as long as I keep an eye on him."

"Then why is he working for Saten?" Misaka-san asked the freshman quizzically.

"Actually, he works for both of us." Saten-san explained. "He does the odd job for us here and there in exchange for his freedom."

"You two bypassed the law just to get an errand boy?" Kuroko-chan asked disapprovingly. Even Uiharu was looking at the two Level 5s involved unhappily.

"Not at all." Saten-san said placatingly. "The judge sentenced him to community service, we just happened to make arrangements for him to serve that sentence working for us."

 _And I bet the two of you somehow made sure that's exactly what the judge would sentence him to._ Mii reasoned, though she knew better than to say it out loud.

"Anyways~! If you guys need him to do stuff for you, feel free to drop him a call." Namikaze-san paused and tapped her chin. "Well, after he gets a new phone."

That reminded Mii of another important question that she needed answered. Once more rounding on Saten-san, she sternly demanded answers. "What kind of job did you send him on that would wreck a phone that was designed for extreme environments?"

"I just had him deliver a data drive to a friend of mine."

Namikaze-san released a snort at that.

 _She's getting him to deliver her intel to clients!_ Mii fretted. _What if he gets into more trouble? He can be a real moron when it comes to that._

"Don't worry, Konori-sempai, he's our man now. We take care of our own."

"Why does it sound like you two are starting a gang?" Misaka-san wisecracked.

Namikaze-san made a gang sign with her fingers. "Lolis for life."

"Stop that!" The Electromaster demanded as she smacked the blonde's head.

Despite her misgivings over the situation, Mii couldn't help but giggle at the antics of the Trinity.

* * *

It was late at night in an unused medical facility on the outskirts of District 7 and Kiyama Harumi was waiting impatiently for her potential partner to arrive.

The disgraced scientist had just been released on parole months earlier than she normally should have been, something that she had no doubt was the work of her daughter. However, instead of meeting up with her she'd instead discreetly snuck out of the prison and drove to this rendezvous.

The man she'd agreed to meet had contacted her while she was still in lockup and offered to help in her efforts to save her still comatose students. She'd been skeptical at first, for while his reputation as a medical doctor preceded him, his connections to the Superintendent left her leery of accepting his help. He was very persuasive though and she was frankly out of options, especially if she didn't want to involve Ruiko.

"Kaa-san." Said girl greeted with a angry scowl as she teleported next to the woman.

 _Speak of the devil._

"Ruiko." Kiyama greeted her adopted daughter warmly, ignoring the girl's obvious anger.

"Why did you avoid me? You even snuck out of the prison even though you knew I was waiting to greet you." Ruiko demanded, her arms crossed.

Despite the heated tone of voice, Kiyama heard the underlying hurt as clear as day. Wincing, she pulled the girl into a hug.

"I'm sorry, Ruiko. I didn't mean to upset you."

The esper returned the hug. "Just tell me why."

For a moment Kiyama considered lying or deflecting Ruiko's question. She discarded the idea almost immediately though, her daughter would know if she did. She would accept it, but that would just make it worse. The mother didn't want there to be lies in their relationship.

"I didn't want to involve you in what I have planned." The woman informed the girl as she stepped out of the hug.

"You have another plan to save the others?" Ruiko asked, with a disappointed frown on her face, clearly unhappy that the hug had ended so quickly.

 _She's being so expressive!_ The mother marveled. _It looks like finding true friends really was good for her._

The former researcher let none of her surprise show though, she couldn't get distracted right now. Not when she was having a conversation as important as this. She was determined to not involve Ruiko in any dangerous activities ever again. Now all she needed to do was convince her daughter to agree to that.

Returning her focus to the conversation, Kiyama shook her head. "Not exactly, but I'm meeting with someone that might help me formulate one."

"Well, I have one."

"What?"

"A method to save the others." Ruiko confidently declared.

"How?" Kiyama asked, even as she put the pieces together. "The Level Upper. You finished the simulations before we shut it down, didn't you?"

Ruiko nodded. "And I won't tell you what the solution is unless you agree to let me help."

"Ruiko." Kiyama sighed.

The esper just shot her mother a determined look.

"By all means, let her help." A aged male voice said, as its owner walked towards the two females.

Turning, mother and daughter spotted the legendary physician Heaven Canceller approaching them.

"If Saten-san has a solution to our problems then we should make use of it."

"But Doctor, the risks!"

"I'm perfectly aware of the risks, Kaa-san. And I'm more than willing to accept them."

The old man nodded approvingly, but Kiyama felt her stomach twist in knots at hearing Ruiko say that. Her last attempt to free her comatose students had almost put Ruiko at risk of losing her mind. Who knows what this attempt would result in?

"It'll be okay." Ruiko forced a smile. "Have faith."

If only faith held a logical sense to it, then perhaps the scientist would be able to believe in it.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late." Naru said apologetically, as she opened the door to the 177th Judgement Branch Office, offering her default excuse to explain away her tardiness. "I got held up by some of my fans."

"I'm going to start tallying that excuse." Misaka-sempai snorted.

Naru suppressed her smirk as she prepared to start teasing her uptight sempai.

"Naru-san," Saten cut her off before she could begin, her voice pleading. "I called this meeting for an important reason, so could you save your teasing till after I'm done?"

 _ **She's nervous and worried. Terribly so. I wonder why?**_ Kurama commented sounding intrigued. The fox always did love a good mystery.

 _Whatever she wants to talk about must really be important then._ Naru concluded as she nodded at Saten.

"Now that Namikaze-san is here, can you finally tell us what's this all about?" Shirai-chan asked impatiently.

Misaka-sempai nodded and even Konori-sempai and Uiharu-chan seemed eager to hear what was going on.

 _ **Hmm… Her nerves just spiked again. If she was anyone else, she'd be a fidgeting mess.**_

Acting without thinking Naru plopped down onto the couch next to Saten. The emotionally stunted girl gave a grateful nod and looked to her other side where her best friend was seated and offering her a supportive smile. Seemingly taking strength from the silent encouragement, the Number 3 began explaining her reason for calling the gang together.

"Kaa-san was released last night."

Shirai-chan, by the book as always, managed a forced smile, though her disapproval for the woman's early release was clear. Uiharu-chan, Misaka-sempai and Konori-sempai in contrast all smiled at that, happy that their friend's mother was back home.

They probably would have done more but Saten continued talking before they could say or do anything. "And we've come up with a new procedure to save my siblings."

Everyone exchanged uneasy looks at this, they all remembered the Level Upper Incident. Well, everyone but Uiharu-chan who instead chose to round on Saten.

"Will this put you in danger again?" The usually timid girl demanded hotly.

"No." Uiharu-chan and Naru, to her own surprise, both released sighs of relief. "I won't be directly involved in the procedure at all."

"You're not just saying that to put us at ease, are you?" Shirai-chan asked skeptically.

Offering the teleporter a sincere smile, the AIM manipulator replied. "No, I'm not lying."

 _ **I can vouch for that.**_ Kurama sounded surprised and Naru could understand where he was coming from. It wasn't common for Dark Siders to be this honest especially about their operations and whatever Saten and her mother were cooking up definitely fell on that side of the divide.

The pigtailed Jugement agent frowned, clearly not satisfied with that answer. It was however her roommate who chose to continue the interrogation.

"If you're being so honest, mind sharing what you have planned?"

"I wish I could." Saten said, with a sad shake of her head. "But our partner says it's best to keep a low profile."

"Then why are you telling us anything at all?" Konori-sempai asked sounding like she was just curious. Naru saw through the act though, this was the Judgement agent asking, not the concerned friend.

"It's a compromise. I refused to keep all of you in the dark. So we agreed that I could tell you all but that I would not provide any details, that way if anything does get leaked at least other parties won't know the specifics of what we have planned."

"Your partner's that paranoid?" Uiharu-chan asked sounded suspicious.

"Whoever it is isn't that bad actually." Naru cut in. "Keeping operations like this secret is pretty standard."

Everyone's eyes turned to look at Naru, and she would bet her whole stuffed animal collection on the fact that they were abruptly reminded that she too was a Dark Sider.

 _ **Sucker bet.**_

Uncharacteristically, Naru actually felt uncomfortable as the other girls looked at her with suspicious eyes.

"Naru is correct." Saten replied, thankfully redirecting the attention away from the blonde.

 _ **She did that on purpose.**_

 _No duh, Sherlock!_

 _ **...Oh come on, at least say it the right way. By the Sage, it's like that time you censored me. In your mind!**_

Naru sent a small thankful look towards her fellow Dark Sider which was returned by a playful nudge of her leg even as the brunette continued talking.

"He just wants us to keep a low profile. He might have gotten us official backing this time but it's still strictly an off the books project."

"Who is he?" Uiharu-chan demanded, probably planning to hack into every mainframe she could get access to and learn every little bit of info about the guy's history she could get her hands on once she had the time.

"Heaven Canceller."

Naru sucked in a breath at _that_ name. The legendary physician despite having no official position in the City's hierarchy held incredible influence. His dedication to treating _anyone_ that came to him, made him probably the only truly neutral player in the City. That and his lingering reputation as one of the City's founders gave him a truly impressive level of clout.

 _How in the world does Saten do this?_ Naru pondered in amusement. _Of all the big names in the City, there are only two which could objectively be called good people. One's Oyafune Monaka, her backer, and the other is Heaven Canceller. And she's managed to get both of them to help her? How?_

"If he's in on it, we have nothing to worry about." Naru brushed off the others' concern. Her worries over the matter allayed with the doctor's inclusion in the project, she laid back in the sofa and relaxed.

"Not that I don't believe you Namikaze-san, but I'm still going to check out who he is." Uiharu-chan replied with determination practically pouring from her skin.

"Knock yourself out, you and Shirai-chan already met him though. He helped us with the whole Level Upper deal."

"Still gonna do a background check." The computer whiz insisted.

Saten gave a resigned sigh. "If it'll set your mind at ease then please do."

"You know what would really stop us from worrying?" Misaka-sempai asked leadingly. "Being there when the procedure is performed."

Saten startled at that. "What? But-"

"No buts." Konori-sempai of all people interrupted her. "If you want us to not call in the authorities or interfere then we'll need to be there to make sure that whatever you're doing won't be another Level Upper and endanger anyone. Yourself included."

"She's got you there, Saten-chan." Naru giggled at the predicament the Number 3 was in.

Defeated, the mighty [AIM Sovereign] gave a shallow chastised nod. "I'll make the arrangements."

* * *

The room began to shake as suddenly instruments flew off the tables or floated into the air as if they were in zero gravity. The effect only lasted a moment though, as the power to the systems were cut off by Heaven Canceller.

The room's occupants stared at the mess as all the previously levitating objects fell to earth. They were all too surprised by the development, no one had expected this.

"I-I don't understand." Ruiko stammered out after a moment of silence, a look of shock plastered on her face as she continued to look at the disaster area that was their lab. "This didn't come up in my simulations. There wasn't even a one percent chance of Recurrent Spontaneous PsychoKinesis Syndrome manifesting. This doesn't make sense."

Naru-san shook her head, even as she offered Ruiko's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Simulations aren't perfect."

Ruiko understood that. But surely they couldn't be _that_ wrong. If they were then were they even worth all the trouble they went through with Level Upper to run them in the first place? Would the solution they had suggested even be helpful at all? Much less actually work?

Kaa-san nodded in agreement. "It might not have worked, but we are clearly on the right track. Already the brainwave activity for everyone has increased an average of twenty percent. We just need to refine the process somehow."

"And the Recurrent Spontaneous PsychoKinesis Syndrome?" Misaka-sempai asked pointedly.

"The Poltergeist phenomenon is just an unexpected side effect, probably caused by some unknown variable." Heaven Canceller assured the girls. "It shouldn't be too difficult to overcome. We'll just need to identify what that variable is. Until we do however you'll need to keep this project secret. While we have official backing for it, it is still strictly off the books."

Naru-san looked at the doctor with a shake of her. "Of course it is."

Heaven Canceller gave her a rueful smile.

Uiharu-chan and Shirai-san shared a conflicted look with one another. Ruiko could understand. They were in a tough spot. It wasn't a problem keeping this a secret if it didn't affect any bystanders but if the Poltergeist phenomenon became more powerful...

"What do we do about this?" Misaka-Sempai asked, her eyes glancing at the previously floating equipment.

"Keep it contained while we work to identify the unknown variable Heaven Canceller mentioned and work around it through trial and error. After, of course, going over the data we gleamed from the phenomenon." Kaa-san stated as she stroked her chin in thought.

"And if it becomes powerful enough to cause panic throughout the City?" Naru-san asked. "Or if someone starts pointing fingers at Saten? RSPK is caused by AIM interference, and that's her forte."

Heaven Canceller winked at her. "Secrets are fun to keep."

"You would know, Doc."

The frog faced doctor merely chuckled at the young blonde's barb.

"You didn't answer me about Saten though?"

"No worries there, I'll just vouch that she's not the culprit."

"That'll work I guess." Naru said uncertainly.

"It will. I'm telling the truth after all." The physician said with a laugh.

The others didn't seem to enjoy the humor though, as they continued to trade uneasy looks.

For her part, Ruiko just stared at the ruined lab in shock. _Why do I have a bad feeling about this?_

Sensing her mood, Naru-san and Uiharu both came over. Her fellow Level 5 just stood next to her offering silent support, while her best friend pulled her into a light hug.

* * *

Despite the reassurances that both Kiyama-sensei and that shady Doctor called Heaven Canceler - and what kind of name was _that_!? - gave, the Poltergeist phenomenon kept getting more and more powerful. Within a few days it had grown to the point where it was affecting innocent people as whole School Districts came under its influence. Something which left everyone involved baffled as to how it was possible, since every time a procedure was carried out Saten-san was there to use her own powers to negate the Poltergeist effect.

Thankfully even with its growing area of effect, its strength was still mild at this point, and it hadn't caused anything beyond some light injuries. But with the strength of the phenomenon continuing to grow in strength each time Kiyama-sensei carried out an experiment, Kazari knew it was only a matter of time before someone was seriously hurt.

Which left her not knowing what to do. On one hand, she wanted to do everything she could to help Saten-san but on the other… On the other, she had a duty as a member of Judgement to do everything in her power to preserve the City's public order.

Not since the Level Upper Incident had she been this torn. But even then that had been resolved fairly quickly and without anyone really hurt to boot, but this? This looked liked it was going to be much more messy.

It was thus something of a relief that the case was transferred over to the authority of the Multi Active Rescue unit. Even if she found it a bit odd that the City's emergency response organization was taking over the investigation. Sure they technically did conduct investigations, particularly to determine the causes of emergencies that they had responded to, but this still seemed odd to her. In particular how they seemed to so easily buy into Heaven Canceller's assurance that Saten-san was not the culprit as was suggested by more than one participant at the briefing. She knew from Saten-san and Namikaze-san that the man supposedly had a great deal of influence, but even then this seemed too easy.

Which was why when the group had met up for lunch shortly after the briefing on the Poltergeist case and the City's response, she wasn't terribly surprised when Namikaze-san issued a stark warning.

"I'm just going to tell you all now, watch your backs with MAR." Namikaze-san said with a frighteningly serious look. "Don't talk to them, don't even go near them. And most of all, never trust that dirty skank who's in charge of it. I swear, the last time I was in a room with her I wanted to pop her head off. In seventeen different ways!"

Seeing the petite girl spitting such venom made Kazari wonder who this person was. Who was she that could set the blonde off like that?

Saten-san was in silent mode, most likely searching the net wirelessly to find out what had Namikaze-san so upset. Whatever she found caused her to gasp. "MAR is run by a Kihara?!"

"To be more accurate, Therestina is Gensei's twisted grandspawn." Namikaze-san spat.

Saten-san shot out of her seat at the diner that they were eating at and literally starting glowing with rage. "I'll kill her."

Kazari was taken aback by this, what had set Saten-san off like that? Sure, both she and Namikaze-san had warned them about these Kihara before, but surely they couldn't be _that_ bad.

"You can't touch her!" Namikaze-san chided her fellow Level 5, jumping up to put a restraining hand on the taller girl's arm. "At least until she fucks up."

"You've mentioned these people before." Misaka-san noted, eying the situation warily, her hand conspicuously tucked into the skirt pocket where Kazari knew she kept her Railgun ammunition.

"Think the worst of the worst of Academy City. Now multiply that by a hundred and you've got the Kihara clan. A family of some of the greatest minds in the world but with the most twisted black hearts. Or no hearts in general. I personally think they've got a black hole in there."

"You're exaggerating." Shirai-san gasped, disbelievingly.

Kazari felt the same but considering Saten-san's still simmering anger - she was still glowing - she refrained from saying anything.

"I assure you that she isn't." The furious Level 5 said even as she retook her seat, though she didn't let go of whatever power she was using to glow.

"Saten-san?" Kazari asked worriedly as she took her best friend's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Their patriarch created me." Saten-san spat in the most angry tone that Kazari had ever heard from her. "It was Gensei who sabotaged Kaa-san's experiment all those years ago. The one that gave me my accursed powers. It was him who then took me under his wing and put me through all the hell that followed. It was him that put my siblings into comas."

The glow around Saten-san spiked at that, but Namikaze-san just nudged her shoulder and gestured towards Kazari. In response, the taller girl took a calming breath and finally stopped glowing.

 _They're better friends than I'd ever imagined._ Kazari noted, her heart warmed despite the darkly serious nature of the situation.

"And that experiment was just a casual project to them." The Number 2 shook her head. "They've got their hands in about a thousand different others. Every one of them as unethical as the last. Never be on the wrong end of them, you guys. It won't end pretty."

"And for you?" Misaka-san asked the girl with a frown.

The [Elemental Empress] just offered a toothy smile and said nothing more.

Misaka-san and Shirai-san exchanged looks. They didn't look fully convinced. Kazari didn't think she was either, but if both Namikaze-san and Saten-san felt so strongly about it, then she'd trust in their judgement.

* * *

"Who's the new girl?" The Usagi asked as she eyed Uiharu-san's new roommate. The girl had the same build as their resident computing genius; and short, dark hair, which she styled by tying a few strands together on the left side of her head.

"She's Haruue Erii, my new roommate." Uiharu-san introduced cheerfully. "Haruue-san, this is my friend, Namikaze Naru-san."

Gasping a little in surprise, the shy girl gave the blonde a bow. "Hello, please call me Haruue-san. It's nice to meet you, Namikaze-sama."

The Usagi just nodded and stalked off. Mikoto shook her head at her antics and followed after her, even as Uiharu-san apologized to the new girl on the brat's behalf.

As much as she wanted to admonish her kohai for her bad manners, she understood where she was coming from. Haruue-san must look like she had appeared out of nowhere to the blonde.

Haruue-san had recently transferred to Uiharu's school from the 19th School District to get away from the increasingly powerful Poltergeist phenomenon that was affecting it. Something that Mikoto reminded herself, again, that she needed to talk to Saten-san about. Mikoto had met her a few days earlier when at Uiharu's request, she, Kuroko and Saten-san went over to help them move the girl into her new dorm.

The Usagi had been invited too but had refused, citing an aversion to heavy lifting. Considering any and all heavy lifting would have been expected to have and in fact had been done with their powers, Mikoto thought the younger girl was just being lazy. This had been the day they'd learned MAR was taking over the Poltergeist investigation though, and Mikoto hadn't been too put off. The blonde had after all agreed to meet up with them for lunch and she'd thought the group would all head back to Uiharu's dorm to meet the girl afterwards. Of course, after how that turned out, it wasn't an option. Not with the blonde rushing off claiming to be off to investigate what MAR was really up to.

Fortunately, Haruue-san had seen a poster about a Fireworks Display Festival that the City was organizing. It was just the perfect timing to introduce her to the Usagi. Which was why each of the girls were currently dressed in pretty yukatas as they explored the many booths that had been set up along the riverbank in District 7 as part of the festival.

After about an hour of enjoying the festival's delights and games, the group had decided it was time to take a break and had retreated to the observation deck of a park that overlooked the river and the festival below. From there they could easily smell the scent of grilled food that wafted through the air and see the crowd of people pace back and forth below them.

"You know, you'd know who Haruue-san is if you had actually came with us yesterday." Mikoto chided her kohai, but did note she looked rather bothered by the new girl's presence.

Namikaze just huffed, playing with the fox plushy she'd won at a booth.

That didn't make sense, Namikaze didn't even know the girl. Wait, unless she was...The Electromaster couldn't fight the grin off her face.

"Is our little Usagi shy around the new girl?"

"Shy?!" The other Level 5s head whipped to face her, the festive bells she had tied into her pigtails for the occasion jingling as she did so. Her face was scrunched up in outrage. "Are you high?"

Mikoto sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "I know you have problems with new people, but I didn't think you'd turtle up like this around a new face in the group. Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't see this sooner."

"I will punch you, and you will not get back up."

Mikoto just patted her head. "There there."

Namikaze's face was so red it genuinely looked like a tomato. The shorter girl was so angry, that Mikoto swore that the blonde's eyes flashed red. But that was probably a trick of the light or something.

The Number 5 went behind the short girl and ushered her forward. "Come on, let's go introduce you again, Usagi. Properly this time. I'm sure Haruue-san is going to love you."

"Stop treating me like a kid!" The Chibi exclaimed in outrage.

"Stop acting like one."

"I will go prone."

"I'll just drag you and ruin your yukata."

"...I hate you."

"Love you too."

* * *

Ruiko was enjoying spending time with her friends at the festival, even Uiharu's new roommate Haruue-san. The festivities that had been set up had been entertaining, but mainly the Level 5 had appreciated the outing more for the camaraderie than anything else. Well, that and it offered a nice little escape from her unease over the efforts to free her siblings.

Considering the data she'd obtained from the simulations run during the Level Upper Incident, Ruiko had honestly hoped they'd have made better progress by now. Instead, they were held back by the unknown variable that was causing the Poltergeist phenomenon every time they tried to awaken her comatose brothers and sisters. They had tried dozens of different approaches but were no closer to either identifying the variable or working around it and awakening her peers safely.

"Haruue-san, are you enjoying yourself?" Uiharu asked her shy new roommate.

"Yes, it was fun." The other girl replied with a smile as she sat down on a bench as the seven girls took a breather from the main festival.

"I'm glad to hear that." Shirai-san chimed in, as she returned from a nearby vending machine laden down with an assortment of drinks for everyone.

Seemingly drawn by the arrival of something sweet, Naru-san teleported in from wherever she'd sulked off to earlier and snatched a can. Surprisingly, she didn't pop it open, instead tossing it towards Misaka-sempai as she walked up to join them while pawing another and sending it flying at Ruiko.

Both Level 5s easily caught the cans while shooting their blonde friend quirked brows which she promptly ignored, choosing instead to finally take her own drink and step away from the Level 4. Said tawny haired girl gave the shortest of the Trinity an annoyed look, "Couldn't you have waited a minute for me to put the drinks down?"

"Why wait?"

"Is she always like that?" Haruue-san asked sounding curious but wary. Ruiko could understand where she was coming from, the other girl was only a Level 2 and was now hanging around three Level 5s. It must have been intimidating. Ruiko remembered well how nervous she used to get around higher level espers when she'd been a Level 0, so she could imagine how nerve wracking it must be for the soft-spoken girl.

"Most of the time." Uiharu admitted with a resigned sigh.

"It's strange. I always thought Level 5s were more…" Haruue-san trailed off and shot Ruiko a look. Said Level 5 was a little put out by that, but she knew the other girl was justified in considering her odd. "Err… eccentric."

Deciding not to take offense, the long haired brunette turned to look over the rail and admire the festival below while taking sips from her can.

"Meh, we're all a little weird. Sempai most of all." Ruiko heard Naru-san comment, but didn't turn around.

"What was that, you Chibi?!"

"You okay?" Shirai-san asked as she came to stand next to Ruiko.

"Why do you ask?" Ruiko replied, even while Naru-san and their Sempai squabbled over the blonde's teasing in the background.

"Uiharu, is spending an awful lot of time with Haruue-san. I was just wondering if you were okay with that?"

Ruiko blinked in confusion at that. "Why wouldn't I be?"

The Judgement agent studied her for a long moment, clearly trying to decipher something. Whatever she concluded seemed to satisfy her, as after a moment she simply nodded.

"No reason."

Any chance of further conversation between the two of them was dashed when there was a sudden commotion behind them.

"You're hurt? Where are you? Tell me! I can help you." A visibly agitated Haruue-san was saying to thin air as she got up and walked towards the edge of the observation deck in a daze.

While the others all called out to their new friend in confusion, Ruiko tapped into a number of sensory powers in the hopes of figuring out what was going on.

 _A telepathic connection? But with whom?_ Ruiko mused as her powers detected the traces of what she recognized as a mind link. _Wait! I recognize that mental imprint… Banri-chan!?_

The [AIM Sovereign] gasped as she realized that somehow her new friend was connecting to Edasaki Banri, one of her comatose siblings. The girl was a telepath and early on Ruiko had thought that this would allow her to contact her. So she'd tried using her own acquired telepathy to establish some kind of connection with her sister, but she'd never succeeded. Whenever she tried, all she'd encountered was a series of fuzzy images and disjointed ramblings.

Her mind working at the incredible speeds common to all high level espers, Ruiko immediately saw this development as the potential breakthrough in her attempts to free her siblings that it was. Acting quickly, she teleported right next to a still disoriented Haruue-san and Uiharu who was trying to calm her down.

Unfortunately, this was the exact moment that things went south. Unexpectedly and seemingly without reason, Haruue-san's AIM diffusion field suddenly bloomed. It's radius and strength spiking tremendously, reaching those of a Level 4 in seconds.

 _How?_ Ruiko pondered for a brief moment, even as her eyes widened in shock as the telepath's vastly enhanced AIM field began interfering with the fields of others around the area. _This will cause a Poltergeist... She's the unknown variable!_

The AIM manipulator was so shocked by this realization that she didn't react quickly enough to preempt the Poltergeist. The phenomenon manifested with a sudden shift in the air and the ground beneath the girls shaking violently. Cracks formed and snaked along the floor of the observation area as everyone let out surprised shouts at the newly uneven ground even as it began sinking beneath them.

This finally pulled Ruiko out of her surprise and she promptly summoned her powers to suppress the AIM interference that Haruue's field had caused, even as she noted that said field had receded back to its normal proportions. They were still on unstable ground however as the Poltergeist had seemingly destabilized the hillside and had triggered a landslide that was sweeping the observation deck away.

Quickly grabbing hold of Uiharu and Haruue-san, Ruiko teleported the three of them away to safety.

As they rematerialized a short distance away on one of the paths that wound their way up the hill, Ruiko could feel Naru-san's AIM field flare up and spread beneath them. Abruptly, the crumbling hillside stilled for a instant before the landslide seemed to travel in reverse as the displaced earth rolled back up the hill.

 _Naru-san's control is as finely tuned as ever._ Ruiko observed with a hint pride at her friend's prowess. _If not for the wrecked observation deck, there wouldn't be any sign that anything had happened at all._

A creak caught Ruiko's attention and she looked up to see a lamppost next to them, clearly having been destabilized by the earlier landslide, snap off its base and fall towards them.

"Uiharu, Haruue-san!" The panicked Level 5 called out even as she called up a crimson barrier around all three of them. The lamppost struck the barrier and promptly disintegrated as her favored anti-materiel barrier dispersed the matter that made it up at the molecular level.

At the sight, both lower leveled espers gasped in awe. However, they were startled when the portions of the fallen lamppost that had not touched the barrier fell to the ground with a rumble.

"Are you three okay?" A woman's voice said from the speakers of a pink camouflage-patterned powered suit as it ran up to them. As it did, the canopy on the helmet opened up, revealing the face of a pretty woman with long auburn hair and glasses.

She began to say something, but everything was muddled to Ruiko's ears as her mind zeroed in on one all important fact. This woman was the leader of MAR...a filthy Kihara!

 _ **Threat. Priority One. Eliminate.**_ A mechanical voice intoned in her mind, drowning out everything else. All that remained was sheer loathing for the pathetic excuse for a human being before her, as murderous intent more intense than she'd felt in ages filled every cell of her being. As if reflecting this, her body began to glow with a rainbow light that fluxed wildly.

"KIHARA!"

The war cry caused the woman to freeze in surprise. Tracing its origin, she turned to face Ruiko and paled. It seemed she knew enough about her family's history with the Number 3 to recognize the danger she was now in.

 _Good. That will make it more satisfying as I tear her limb from limb with my bare hands!_

Ruiko moved to take a step forward, ready to do just that when she felt herself stopped short as a pair of arms encased in blue energy slipped under hers and locked her in a restraining hold.

"Oi, Saten, calm down!" Naru-san shouted in her ear as Ruiko winced in pain at the strength her friend's petite body had. She was not so easily thwarted though and the [Multi-Skill] began calling on her strength enhancing powers and struggled against the blonde's grip, all while the glow that surrounded her body grew brighter and brighter.

The Kihara backed up. "Thank you kindly, Ojou-chan. I thought for sure she would have-"

"Bitch, leave before I let Saten loose." The blonde warned in a sharp and unkind tone. "Because I would _pay_ to see what she does to you."

"Let me go!" Ruiko snarled and struggled even more fiercely. At the same time, realizing that she wasn't getting free anytime soon, she tried a different tack. Calling up another set of powers, she conjured a green orb that crackled with energy in front of her. "Or don't. I'll just use [Meltdowner]'s ability to reduce her to her constituent atoms instead!"

Haruue-san let out a frightful squeak at this even as Uiharu shouted. "Saten-san! Stop!"

The Kihara turned and began to run. For a second, Ruiko swore she could see a smirk on her face.

 _Smirk all you want! Whatever you're so happy about won't matter. You're dying here today!_

Reacting to the escalating turn of events, Naru-san's blue aura grew brighter and she pulled the Number 3 to the ground, increasing the force of her grip to painful levels in the process. Even with her face pressed to the ground, Ruiko still kept her eyes locked on the woman with a demonic glare.

Screaming a wordless cry of fury, she unleashed the terrible destructive power of the Number 6's signature Particle Waveform High-Speed Cannon.

Tragically, just as the stream of high-speed electrons was about to impact with the vile woman it swerved up into the sky instead as they were suddenly seized by a powerful electromagnetic field.

As the beam faded, Ruiko turned to the side and shot Misaka-sempai a terrifying glare before turning to Shirai-san to do the same. If not for the meddlesome teleporter bringing in the equally meddlesome [Railgun] she'd have killed the Kihara!

Before Ruiko could prepare another attack - a gravity based one this time - to throw at the still fleeing Kihara, she was slapped so hard that her face slammed into the ground.

Stunned, the Level 5 looked up to see an angry and teary eyed Uiharu glaring down at her.

"What are you doing you dummy!? Remember what you have to do! Kiyama-sensei and the rest still need you. How can you help them if you're locked up in the Reformatory?!"

The truth of those words struck Ruiko to her core and she froze.

By the time she regained her equilibrium, the woman was already gone.

* * *

"Oi, Saten, calm down." Mikoto told her kohai as they walked through the hospital to check up on Uiharu-san.

Another Poltergeist incident had happened in the nature park in District 21. Uiharu-san and Haruue-san who had been at the park for an outing to make up for what happened at the Fireworks Festival, had been caught up in it along with dozens of civilians.

Of course [The Robot] -who was really failing to live up to that moniker at the moment- had responded to that as expected and was wracked with guilt and worry about what had happened to her best friend. In fact, she had been mumbling to herself in worry for Uiharu-san's condition ever since Mikoto had met up with her to head over to the hospital together.

It was only Mikoto, Saten, and Kuroko at the moment, since Naru was busy with one of her modeling shoots and was unable to come. Mikoto felt like scolding her for that, but it was short notice so she'd let the Usagi go this time. She'd after all promised to come as soon as possible.

"You'd think she would show a smidge of concern for all the other people who were injured." Kuroko noted under her breath to Mikoto.

"She's just worried for Uiharu-san. I'm just hoping Haruue-san is alright too."

Kuroko rolled her eyes. "Uiharu is perfectly fine. I talked to her over the phone already."

Mikoto cocked a brow. "And?"

"Well…"

"Uiharu!" Saten cried out as she opened the hospital room door. "Are you okay, what happened?"

The two roommates walked in after her to see Uiharu with a band-aid on her knee sitting in a chair by a bed containing a sleeping Haruue-san

"Saten-san, shh! Haruue-san is resting." Uiharu-san chided her in a whisper.

"But you're hurt!"

"Saten, she scuffed her knee. That's all." Mikoto openly pointed out to the girl.

"It could get infected!"

"Shh!" Uiharu-san hissed loudly to Saten, causing the long haired brunette to look like a scolded child.

Geez, someone should not have that level of control over a Level 5. It was kind of scary.

Kuroko shook her pigtailed head, "The likelihood of that happening Saten-san is very slim. The hospitals here in Academy City are the best in the world. So please stop acting so overtly paranoid."

"I'm not paranoid. Just-" Saten shifted uneasily on her feet.

"Just what?" Mikoto asked curiously.

"Guilty." The younger Level 5 admitted. "I knew this would happen-"

"What did you mean by that?" Kuroko demanded sharply, even as Uiharu-san gasped.

Mikoto shook her head, her hands on her hips. What was with her and idiot kohai?

Saten winced when the [Railgun] flicked her forehead. "Stop being so stupid. I'm pulling a Chibi here and telling you that it's not your fault. It's not like you know what's causing these Poltergeist effects in the City, do you?"

"Actually, I do."

"What!?" Everyone gasped in shock.

Fidgeting uneasily, Saten explained. "I found out last night at the Festival. It's Haruue-san."

All three girls were taken aback by this, but Uiharu-san reacted most strongly by literally jumping out of her seat to look at Saten in shock. "You're not serious, are you!? Please tell you're not."

"I'm afraid I am." Saten said with a sad sigh, even as she seemed to shrink into herself at the stricken look her best friend was shooting her. "Haruue-san has some kind of telepathic bond that I can't explain with my sister, Edasaki Banri. For some unknown reason it allows them to communicate even while Banri-chan is still in a coma, even though that should be impossible. I've tried."

"How does that cause the Poltergeist phenomenon?" Kuroko asked in full on detective mode.

Saten shrugged. "I don't know the specifics, but for some reason when the bond is active it causes Haruue-san's AIM field to temporarily grow to the proportions of a Level 4 and then interact in a destabilizing way with other nearby fields-"

"Thus causing the Poltergeist." Uiharu-san breathed in resignation as she sank back onto her chair.

"I'm sorry Uiharu, I should have told you last night. Then you wouldn't have been hurt again by my quest to save my siblings."

"You're still hang up on that?" Mikoto asked incredulously. "It's just a scraped knee!"

"Misaka-san is right, Saten-san." Uiharu-san said reassuringly as she reached over to give the clearly uneasy girl's hand a comforting squeeze. "More importantly, why didn't you tell us any of this last night?"

With the barest hints of a blush the Number 3 looked away. "I forgot."

"You forgot!?" Kuroko boggled.

"With the Kihara there I was distracted, okay?" Saten shot back defensively. "And after she left I was too preoccupied with figuring out the hows of the situation."

"That's why you rushed off last night?"

"Yes, Shirai-san." [Multi-Skill] said with a nod. "I went to speak with Kaa-san and Heaven Canceller in the hopes they could explain things. They can't, though they're investigating the matter."

"It probably has something to do with Haruue-san's history with Edasaki-san," Namikaze opined as she opened the door to the hospital room and walked in.

"What are you doing here?" Mikoto asked, surprised to see the blonde. "Don't you have a modelling shoot?"

"Yeah, but I asked to leave early. Told them one of my friends just ended up in the hospital and I wanted to visit. They were very understanding."

Saten suddenly gave an odd jerk and everyone turned to her and saw her face scrunched up in a look of shock. "They knew each other."

"Just found that out? I'm surprised." The Chibi commented as she eyed her classmate with concern. "You spent all of last night researching Lifeline didn't you?"

"Yes," Saten admitted sheepishly.

"Who's this Lifeline?" Mikoto asked, even if she had a good guess.

"Therestina Kihara Lifeline." Uiharu said, confirming Mikoto's suspicions. "She's the leader of MAR."

Seemingly ignoring Mikoto and Uiharu's aside, Saten continued her conversation with [The Rabbit]. "How did you find out about Haruue-san's past?"

"Hey, you maybe the best at it, but you aren't the only one who can dig up information if she wants to." The Number 2 shot back with a playful smirk.

"I still don't fully agree with you two that Lifeline-san is as bad as you say." Kuroko said uncertainly, earning herself glares from both her Level 5 yearmates.

Stepping in front of her roommate protectively, Mikoto offered her agreement. "I'm with Kuroko on this. I mean, of course we believe you that these Kiharas are bad news and we'd be careful with her. But we can't exactly just paint her with the same brush as the rest of her family."

"Onee-sama is right. We can't judge her for what other people did."

Saten looked ready to argue the point, but the Chibi grabbed her arm and shook her head. Taking a calming breath, the brunette heeded the advice and subsided. Mostly. She was still visibly upset and glaring at the two roommates though.

Any further conversation was interrupted when a knock came from the door. Kuroko walked over to it and opened the sliding door. "Yes, come in-"

She paused, along with the rest of the inhabitants of the room as they noticed the person on the other side.

There at the door, in a purple skirt suit was the woman in the powered suit on the night of the festival. She flashed them all a smile and glanced around. "What a small world. How nice to see you all again."

"Great, the Wicked Bitch of the West is here." The Chibi sighed. "And just the day I forget my holy water."

"Be careful not to burn yourself, my dear monster." The woman shot right back without skipping a beat. She gave a small bow even as Saten looked ready to pounce once again, heck she was faintly glowing again. "Hello, I'm Therestina Lifeline, leader of MAR."

"And grandspawn of Gensei. Yeah, we know. Speak fast, Saten-chan looks hungry." Namikaze said in a chipper fashion, her hand restraining Saten by her shoulder.

"Why E.T., of course I'm here for a reason." The woman replied as she opened her jacket to pull out a piece of paper which she proceeded to wave tauntingly in Saten's face. "As you can see, I have a warrant for one Haruue Erii-chan to be brought into MAR's custody due to possible links with the Poltergeist Incident."

"But that's-!"

"If you girls wish to interfere, we can always have you arrested~!" Therestia smiled mockingly at them.

"You think I'm scared of-" Saten marched up to the woman, looking ready to rip her throat out until Uiharu-san grasped her arm while Namikaze's now blue enshrouded hand tightened her grip on her shoulder.

"Saten-san, no!"

"Let me go!"

The leader of MAR clapped her hands and shot Uiharu-san a look of mock gratitude. "Thank you Judgement-chan, such hard workers you are."

 _We have to do something, Haruue-san isn't guilty of anything besides circumstances!_ Mikoto inward sulked as her fists tightened, sparks dancing across her knuckles.

"On what grounds are you taking Haruue-san into custody?" Kuroko cut in firmly.

"On the grounds that as the only telepath that has consistently been in the vicinity of all the Poltergeist events. She's the prime suspect." The Kihara explained, straightening and gaining an almost professional demeanor though the mad glint in her eyes gave her away. She was enjoying this.

"A Level 2? Why not go talk to [Mental Out] for news on a telepath that might fit the bill better? Oh wait!" The Chibi grinned. "Didn't she already talk with you?"

"By having my driver go through a Dairy Queen, yes." The woman said with a disgusted sigh. "You Level 5s and your eccentricities."

"Not feeling that Ultimate Oreo Frappe? It's a fav."

Mikoto just looked at her tiny kohai. _I knew she was a Smart Alec, but yesh. She and Big Boobs really are cut from the same cloth when it comes to annoying people._

"I wish someone could cut that tongue out, but it would just come back." Therestina-san muttered, before becoming stern. "But enough games. I came here to do a job, so get out of my way."

Saten still looked ready to attack but between Namikaze and Uiharu-san they managed to get her to stand aside while Therestina gestured to a group of her men to come in to take Haruue-san away. Mikoto and Kuroko both looked on like everyone else, helpless to do anything beyond following them as they carted their friend off.

The girls were standing at the hospital entrance looking as the MAR ambulance drove out of sight when a nearby trash bin suddenly collapsed in on itself.

"Damn it!" Saten cursed.

"Yeah, I know where you're coming from." Namikaze agreed worriedly. "A Kihara getting her way is never a good thing."

Mikoto was starting to agree with her.

* * *

Kuroko typed furiously as she pulled up Haruue-san's profile in [The Bank]. All the girl's files had been classified by MAR, so the girl's standard Judgement passcodes did nothing. Luckily, the girls had regrouped at Kiyama-sensei's lab and that frog faced doctor, Heaven Canceller, was around. Where her codes had failed, his had provided the necessary access with ease.

Not for the first time, Kuroko was unnerved with the level of influence that the man possessed. She didn't let that distract her from the task at hand however and she quickly read through the data and explained the findings to the others.

"From the information in [The Bank], it appears that when exposed to certain frequencies Haruue-san's ability can exceed her standard level."

 _That's rare._ Kuroko noted in surprise. While not totally unheard of, such espers were very uncommon. In fact, as far as the Judgement agent knew, Haruue-san was the only telepath with such a quirk.

It seemed she wasn't the only one that found this surprising, as upon hearing her, Namikaze-san stopped munching on one of her special candy bars. "Well shit, that sound familiar to you?"

She was looking at the irate Number 3, who was seated next to Uiharu who in turn was keeping a restraining hand firmly on the other girl. [Multi-Skill] wouldn't do anyone any good if she gave into her anger. Hence, the flower wearing girl was doing her best to keep Saten-san from going on a rampage and most likely wiping MAR off Academy City's map.

"Level 6." Saten breathed out in horror.

The blonde pointed her candy bar at the brunette. "Bingo. We've gotta get her out of there fast or Haruue-san is going to be a guinea pig real soon."

"But Haruue-san is only a Level 2!" Uiharu argued.

"Yes, but with the use of Body Crystal and the right AIM Resonance, one which includes something that she has a deep link to-"

"Like Edasaki-san." [Maniforce] chimed in.

Saten nodded, and continued. "Then theoretically it's possible that her AIM field would expand sufficiently to transform her into a Level 6."

"Theoretically?"

"There is only a 0.000001% chance."

"More than enough for a Kihara. They'll just think their genius will allow them to make it 100%" Namikaze-san scoffed and glanced at Saten-san. "Speaking of which, how the hell did you miss that, stupid."

There was no kindness in her voice, just pure scolding which Saten-san responded to by flushing in embarrassment.

"...Like I said, I spent last night investigating Therestina rather than researching Haruue-san."

"Geez, you've seriously lost your edge, Saten-chan. Your anger is making you as blunt as a bat."

"Your friend is right, Ruiko." Kiyama-sensei commented idly as she came by with drinks.

"You're usually better than this." She added as she handed her daughter her cup. "Here, drink this hot chocolate. I made it just like you like it, it'll help you calm down."

"Thank you, Kaa-san." Saten-san replied with a smile, even as the woman nodded and headed back towards the area where her other children were resting.

"I'll leave the rest of this side of things to you, Ruiko." The woman said utterly confident in her daughter's ability to resolve things in their favor.

"Yes, Kaa-san."

Everyone was silent for a moment as they gave Saten a moment to sip her drink and calm down. When her posture relaxed a moment later, Uiharu spoke up.

"Honestly, Saten-san, Namikaze-san, who's to blame right now isn't the issue." The tech wiz chided gently. "What's important is to figure out how to get Haruue-san safely home and to free Saten-san's siblings."

* * *

Teleporting directly from school at the end of a day that had stretched into the late evening thanks to a session in the chemistry lab, Ruiko arrived at the latest lair where she and her mother were conducting their experiment to wake her siblings.

The Level 5 rubbed her eyes, where dark bags had formed due to her fatigue. She hadn't slept much in days. Instead choosing to spend her time calculating and recalculating every conceivable way that she could help her siblings. She was without Level Upper this time, and the process was painfully slow but she persevered anyway. At least this time they had somewhere to start from rather than shooting in the dark like they did last time. Having to do that was why they had created that dangerous network in the first place, sorting through the possible avenues of treatment and identifying plausible solutions was an epic undertaking.

For all the mental capacity that her cursed power gave her, even she didn't know how long it would take before her siblings could wake up safely. Despite her best efforts, her calculations were leading her nowhere.

Though that might be because try as she might, her most current worry had been Haruue-san. Who knew what the demon in human flesh was doing to her. MAR allowed no visitors. Worse yet, likely to counter her known penchant for hacking, wherever she was being held was some kind of secure area that even her infiltration of their surveillance systems had not given her access to. Outside of a few glimpses of her being wheeled into the MAR Base Research Laboratory, she'd not been able to spot her new friend since she was taken.

It looked like Ruiko would have to storm the castle to even find Haruue-san.

Her thoughts on the matter were put on hold as she noticed that the door to the lab had been forced open. Whoever did it hadn't even tried to be subtle, and if Ruiko hadn't been so distracted she'd have noticed it immediately upon arrival. The sliding doors made of reinforced glass were intact, but one whole pane had been forced off the track and was lying on the ground cracked.

More worrying was that there was no one there. Doing a quick scan with a few sensory powers, she quickly noted that not only were her siblings missing from their beds, which was immediately obvious from looking through the broken glass doors, but that her Kaa-san was not around either. Neither were Heaven Canceller or Wataru-san, both of whom should have been there at this hour.

She was about to panic when her phone rang. Without even looking at it, an application of Electromastery told her it was from Wataru-san. Hastily fishing it out, she accepted the call.

"Yo, Saten-ojou we need some help here!"

"Where are you!?" Saten demanded. "What's going on? I'm at the lab and-"

"We were attacked by MAR," Wataru-san replied even as the sound of a high caliber bullet striking a wall in the background resounded across the airwaves and sent a chill down Ruiko's spine. Acting quickly, she began tracking his position. It wasn't easy though not when he wasn't an esper.

"Just managed to get reception on my phone. Some kinda portable jammer I think."

"Is Kaa-san-" Ruiko tried to ask as she triangulated his rough position using his cell reception and began narrowing down his exact location via the City's surveillance system.

 _What I'd give for access to UNDER_LINE right now!_

"She's safe. So is the froggy doctor. I've got them." The former street thug reassured. "They got your sibs though. We need help- Oh shit! Left! Swerve left!"

The whistling sound of an RPG flying through the air echoed through the call followed by a ear splitting explosion.

"Damn it! They've-"

"I'm on my way!"

Ruiko had heard enough and with her destination established, she teleported away.

* * *

The Number 3 rematerialized in a crouch atop her mother's car heavily, denting the roof in the process.

"Should have gotten that Esper insurance." Kaa-san grunted as she held onto the wheel of the car tightly. "Ruiko, take care of them. Now!"

"My pleasure!" Ruiko replied, a vicious smile on her face as the prospect of finally getting a chance to deal with her enemies awakened the long suppressed bloodlust that characterised her [Army Slayer] persona.

Despite seeing her, the squad of MAR goons that had cornered her mother and allies in a cul de sac seemed unfazed. Perhaps they thought their powered suits and that APC would be enough to face her.

 _How foolish._

" _It's the Level 5, start up CD!"_ The squad's probable leader ordered calmly.

Immediately, Ruiko felt the airwaves pulse with the power of Capacity Down as the APC's built in speakers blasted the infernal noise out into the still night air. The sound waves it created weighed on her brain like a ton of bricks and muted all other sounds around her. Despite the intense pain, the Level 5 refused to falter. Besides, she wasn't as limited as these fools seemed to think she was.

Without dropping her bloodthirsty smirk, she jumped down from the car roof and advanced on the MAR men. Their trump card's lack of effect seemed to stun them and they just stood there even as she walked ever closer.

"You know," the Level 5 commented airily. "You guys really should have done more research on me. Sure, your little _toy_ might make it impossible to use my biological brain thanks to the stress it induces but I'm not reliant on that alone. Haven't been for a very long time."

"AIM body." One of the MAR troopers hissed in horror, as he pieced together the puzzle. "Shoot her! Shoot her now!"

His order seemed to drag the gunmen out of their shock and as one they unleashed a wall of lead at the young girl.

"Yup" Ruiko continued as if she was wasn't being shot at by a dozen men with high powered guns. Not that she needed to worry about that. She was after all completely safe thanks to her trusty anti-materiel barrier. "All I needed to do to get around your toy was to shift my consciousness and computations from my biological brain and into my AIM body instead. To me all your precious weapon does is give me an annoying headache."

Her revelation seemed to unnerve the men even more, or maybe it was the fact that she very clearly still had access to and perfect control over her powers. Whatever the case, they responded by firing an RPG at her. Not that it got through the growing layers of barriers that she was throwing up.

The loud noise of the explosion made the pain from Capacity Down spike though, irritating her and so with a wave of her hand she caused the ground to split open directly underneath the men. Predictably, they all fell and with another wave of her hand she had the fissure snap closed, thus crushing their legs.

Waving tauntingly at the screaming men, Ruiko bade them farewell. "Bye bye!"

As she finished speaking, the whole area around the MAR men and their vehicle was suddenly engulfed in a large black dome that promptly collapsed on itself. In its wake there was nothing left but a perfectly spherical hole in the ground.

"Ruiko, stop playing around and get in here." Kaa-san called out from the car.

The Level 5 teleported into the car, sitting right next to Heaven Canceller in the backseat.

"They have terrible timing." Kaa-san said in simmering rage.

"What do you mean?"

The woman was too worked up to answer and instead focused on driving them over the bridge of Dark Matter that Ruiko had created over the hole in the road her previous activities had made.

"What your mother means, Saten-san, is that we have finally managed to work out a way to safely awaken all the children." Heaven Canceller explained. At hearing this, a sense of unbridled joy surged through Ruiko and her heart leapt.

"Yeah, well before the Docs could try it out though those assholes showed up." Wataru-san added from the front seat as he banged his fist angrily against the dashboard. "I was just bringing them their dinner, and bam! Out of nowhere the wannabe tin soldiers stormed the place."

The remainder that her siblings had been taken quashed her joy and replaced it with boiling rage.

"Kaa-san." The [Army Slayer] said in a tight voice. "I'll rescue them, I swear. And when I do, we'll wake them up together."

She could see her Kaa-san's smile in the rearview.

"I have no doubt."

* * *

 **Done and done! Phew, another long chapter, now that feels like our usual speed. Thanks to Nameless and ShadowofAxios as always.**

 **Surprised by the new chapter so soon? We're so glad to be working on this fic again, side project though it may be, that we decided to spoil you readers a bit. In addition to the filler chapter 7, we've decided to also release chapter 8. Which is fitting as it's the start of the new arc.**

 **Nameless: First things first, let us address the title. Wiedervereinigung von Gespenstern is German for Reunion of Ghosts. It's a homage to the German origins of the word Poltergeist which is the name of the phenomenon so central to this arc. It also references the 'ghostly' telepathic reunion between Edasaki Banri and Haruue Erii, which is another homage to the word Poltergeist which is German for 'noisy ghost'. Hope you guys liked our attempt at wordplay. It's powered by Google only, so if any native/fluent German speakers spot any errors with it, please be understanding.**

 **Personally, loving the Character Dev in this chapter. Naru's not good with new people in the group, Saten's fluxing emotions. She's a real girl!**

 **Nameless: A crazy one though. Hope we pulled off a little taste of her [Army Slayer] persona off well. It'll make an appearance again in a later arc where it'll be more prominent, so consider this a teaser. You might notice the difference from what she showed Kuroko in Chapter 4. This was intentional. She was lying back then. But not to Kuroko, instead to herself. She was never the bystander in her own mind when she was the [Army Slayer] like she wants to pretend she was. She'd never admit it though. Again this will be explored again in more detail in a later arc.**

 **And of course, Kiharas. Kiharas for days. Man that Therestina was always a twisted bitch to me. And now Naru can express my loathing of her. Feels good. Stupid psycho woman...you ruin my dreams of smart hot chicks you know. Makes me think they're all crazy deep down. Well, my phobias aside, it's going to be fun to write her in the next chapter.**

 **Nameless: Ok so let's talk about Ruiko's method of waking her siblings up. It is fundamentally different from canon and does not in fact involve the use of Body Crystal at all. This change is incidental and born of the altered outcome of the Level Upper arc, but now serves to make MAR more clearly the bad guys. They want to use a dangerous substance/drug to create a Level 6, while Kiyama, Ruiko and co. are using mostly safe methods (the Poltergeists created by Haruue are unexpected and out of their control or ability to prevent considering their limited resources) to save the ten comatose kids.**

 **Something we thought we needed to add to clear up some confusion. The ability Ruiko is emulating and the esper she's copying it formed is called [and the following is directly from the wiki with slight edits] Dark Matter (未元物質 Migen Busshitsu (Dāku Matā)?, lit. "Unknown Matter"). It is an esper ability which allows the creation and control of an unknown material. It should be noted that the term "Dark Matter" is not to be confused with the true "Dark Matter" which is among the components of the universe. In addition, 'unknown matter' here does not mean matter that has not been discovered by humans but matter that did not exist until it was created by users of this ability. The material created defies the Laws of Physics, allowing the user to produce 25,000 different types of energy and apparently shape produced substances in any form he desires.**

 **And that's a wrap! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames please and peace off my peeps!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Nine:** **Präludium zum Kampf**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

After a call from Saten, the entire gang met up at the 177th Branch Judgement office. Most were still groggy from rushing from bed to what [Multi-Skill] had called an emergency meeting. The proof of this beyond the fact that most of the girls were dead on their feet was the way they were dressed. Uiharu-chan looked like she'd just thrown on whatever she'd first pulled out of her closet, resulting in a horrendously clashing outfit made out of rainbow leggings and a neon pink blouse. She knew the girl had a better sense of fashion than that. Despite the fashion disaster she was wearing though, the girl for some reason still had her flower crown on.

 _Seriously? Uiharu-chan?_ Naru mused as she shook her head at the girl's sense of priorities.

At least the roommates Misaka-sempai and Shirai-chan had theirs in order. They at least were wearing their standard Tokiwadai uniforms even if they weren't as tidy as they normally were.

 _ **And what does that say about you then?**_ A strangely awake Kurama noted with a smirk.

Naru ignored her demonic tenant, refusing to give him the satisfaction of admitting that he had a point.

Unlike her schoolmates who had picked out the appropriate clothing, Naru had just grabbed the first decent outfit she spotted which consisted of a casual orange tee-shirt and denim shorts. She hadn't even bothered to style her hair before rushing over.

She felt that it was justified. Thanks to a late night 'research' session last night, she'd only gotten a few hours sleep before the call and was feeling dead tired.

Covering her mouth with a yawn, Naru looked to the girl who had convened this emergency meeting. "We got a plan?"

Konori-sempai, who much to Naru's secret annoyance was as well dressed as normal, was first to speak up. "We should contact Anti-Skill."

"We already have." Heaven Canceller shook his head. "Sadly, they won't be helping us. MAR is still an official unit operating within its purview."

"Those cowards are never there when you need them." Kiyama-sensei spat as she paced the room restlessly.

"Kaa-san," Saten called out soothingly.

The woman wasn't in the mood to be calmed.

"I'm going for a walk." With that, she stormed out of the room. A few of the others tried to stop her, but Saten shook her head at them.

"I'll watch her."

 _Of course she would, she's her mother. I don't see why the others were worried._ Naru mused curiously, perplexed as to why their friends were concerned about Saten's inability to keep her mother safe even from a distance.

 _ **They're her friends? You humans always tend to worry excessively about those you are close to.**_ Naru's vulpine tenant opined with a shrug.

 _You're probably right._

"Kaa-san, just needs to cool off for a bit." Saten said with a sigh before getting back to business. "I've put in a call to get Anti-Skill moving, but it'll take some time."

"Who?" Naru asks curiously. There weren't many people with the clout to do that and she was curious who her friend had tapped to make it happen.

"Oyafune."

"Oh! You're calling in the big guns. I like."

"Who is that?" Misaka-sempai asked.

 _Geez, you'd think she'd know these things._

"My backer. She's a Director on the City's Board." Saten told their curious sempai.

"Your backer?" Misaka-sempai asked inquisitively.

Saten wasn't ready to address the issue and the can of worms that it would likely open, instead she chose to change the topic. "Since Anti-Skill is not an option yet, we'll have to handle the matter ourselves for now. Something which will be difficult since MAR has multiple bases and we'll need to search all of them to rescue my siblings."

Uiharu-chan jumped to work and turned to her computer. "I'm working on it."

"Multiple bases?" Konori-sempai mused, a worried frown on her face. "If we don't want them to get away, we'd need to hit them all at the same time. Do we have the manpower for that?"

"What choice do we?" Naru asked with a shrug.

"The blonde ojou's right, Mii." Wataru-san chimed in, looking uncharacteristically serious. "Like you said we can't waste time." He then punched a nearby wall. "These are the same scum who were willing to use our old friends as pawns just to test their weapon. The longer we leave those kids with them-"

"Got it!" Uiharu declared, as she gestured for the others to take a look at her monitor. Naru and most of others clustered around her work area to see. Saten and Misaka-sempai on the other hand hung back, seemingly content to use their electromastery to read whatever was being displayed.

"So it looks like they have three bases."

* * *

"So anyone else find it ironic that MAR has a base just a stone's throw from the one we used during the Level Upper Incident?" Ruiko idly asked as she casually sent an electromagnetic pulse loose. It wasn't particularly powerful, but still more than enough to short out the two shoddily insulated automated powered suits that were her current opponents.

"I'd describe it as suspicious more than ironic." Her Level 4 schoolmate countered even as she took down another of the powered suits by teleporting her nails directly into its powerpack. She followed this up by teleporting out of the way of its partner trying to shoot her up from around the corner of the hallway they were currently fighting in. Rematerializing, she was just in time to see it vaporized by Ruiko's emulation of the Number 6's destructive beam.

"Saten-san, Shirai-san, hang in there a little longer. I'm almost done!" Uiharu declared from inside the control room that the two higher level espers were defending.

One of the bound and gagged MAR personnel tried to say something, but Ruiko shot him a sharp glare that silenced the man. He and his compatriot had originally been manning the base's security from the control room that the girls had commandeered. Thankfully, some research on the building's floor plans had allowed them to teleport in and catch the men unawares before they could activate Capacity Down, though not suddenly enough to stop them from activating the automated powered suits and the base's other security systems on autonomous mode.

"Take your time, Uiharu." Ruiko told her best friend as she used some telekinesis to disassemble one of the wrecked trio of turrets that had been designed to help defend the control room and that they had been forced to destroy. She needed some ammunition, and there was just something poetic about using the enemy's own remains against their fellows. "We've got this covered."

"Speak for yourself," Shirai-san complained, even as she turned yet another powered suit into a pale imitation of a porcupine. "I'm out of nails."

"Fall back. I'll handle this."

As if to prove this point, Ruiko sent her newly acquired ammunition flying down both sides of the hallway and destroyed three more suits advancing on their location.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?"

Ruiko refused to comment or acknowledge the truth of the matter. Not even as she basked in the thrill of a good fight. It was a good distraction from worrying about her mother's state of mind, even as she devoted part of her mind to keeping an eye on the woman as she continued to stew in frustration back at the 177th Branch Office with only Heaven Canceler to offer paltry comfort.

"Done!" Uiharu declared even as the latest wave of suits suddenly froze mid motion.

The Level 5 felt her mouth twitch into an expression that she didn't recognize.

"You are." Shirai-san noted with a disappointed sigh. "And here I thought you'd be less of a fight junkie than Namikaze-san and Onee-sama."

"I'm not." Ruiko denied with a frown even as she turned to face her best friend who was seated in front of the sophisticated looking machine that served as the base's master computer. "Well, Uiharu are they here?"

"Doesn't look like it." The Level 1 replied, frowning in disappointment.

Ruiko felt the same, doubly so, since these were _her_ siblings they were looking to rescue. She had to be sure that Uiharu was right, not that she didn't trust the hacker, but because MAR was definitely tricky enough to find someway to have fooled her. As such, she called on her powers to simultaneously read the minds of their prisoners and scan the building.

Only to come up empty. Uiharu was right, her siblings weren't here.

"Damn."

* * *

Naru was strolling around _The Strange_ in District 11. Uiharu-chan had ferreted out that MAR had set up a hidden lab in the home of the Skill-Outs and the blonde was tasked to investigate.

Alone.

 _Why do I have to go alone? Maybe I wanted to team up with someone. Or have someone to talk to since this is boring as hell._ Naru grumbled inwardly, her blue eyes shifting around the garbage and graffiti filled area that she found herself in.

 _ **This is your own fault for volunteering to go alone. It's not like your friends didn't offer to send someone with you.**_

 _Hey, how would I know I'd end up being this bored?_ Naru shot back defensively. She knew the fox was right but she wasn't about to admit it.

 _ **Poor baby, you want to talk about Keyboard Kat or something?**_

 _Despite the adorableness of that kitty, we're not talking about Youtube videos._ She said while shooting the demon a mental glare.

 _ **Hmph, fine. I can outplay him anyway, I have actual fingers.**_

 _Kurama, not now! We're not going over this again. You cannot have your own Youtube channel._

 _ **I'd be a hit!**_

 _Don't make me chain you up in there! I've watched a shibari video recently, so I'm full of ideas I'm just_ dying _to try._

As Naru continued her internal argument on views and channel collabs, she noticed a few goonish Skill-Outs walking out of an alleyway.

 _ **We could get on Saturday Night Live with my five year plan. And you're not listening.**_

Sighing, Naru gave the cocky delinquents a bored look.

"What do we have here? You lost girlie?" One of the guys asked rhetorically as he shot her a malicious grin.

"No." Naru rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Look, I'm kinda busy right now. Can we skip this and go our separate ways? It'll save you some grief."

Without waiting for an answer, the Level 5 began to circle around the group only to be blocked off.

 _And now we're doing this._

"Whoa whoa!" Another of the street toughs said as he blocked her way. "You can't just wander around here, kid. You've gotta pay the toll."

She cocked a blonde brow. "So does that make you a troll?"

A few of the man's buddies snickered at that while the Skill-Out that was blocking her way turned red in the face. "You've got a smart mouth, kid." He pulled out a switchblade and flicked it open. "How bout we fix that."

"...I haven't had enough sleep for this." Naru stated, even as she casually created a odachi out of chakra that had a blade the length of a bus

"What the shit!?" One of the Skill-Outs shouted.

"As you can see, my phallic symbol is bigger than yours." The blond emphasised this point by swinging at a nearby lamppost. Her deadly construct easily cut the street light down. "So leave."

The Skill-Outs didn't have to think twice. Choosing the better part of valor, they bolted like frightened squirrels.

Reabsorbing the chakra, Naru continued her search despite her continued exhaustion and rising annoyance.

"Now where the hell is this place?"

 _ **So about that five year plan…**_

Realising that she had no other company than her annoying tenant, Naru really wished she had accepted her friends' offers to have someone come with her.

* * *

Mikoto sulked as she rode pillion on Konori-sempai's motorbike, while Kurozuma-san rode beside them on his own motorbike. The two former biker gang members were racing down the road at speeds and pulling off maneuvers that had the Level 5 sweating just a tad bit nervously.

"Why couldn't I have one?" She asked, trying to take her mind off the duo's reckless riding.

"Do you know how to ride one?" Konori-sempai asked over the roar of the engine.

"...I feel stupid." The Electromaster continued to sulk. She felt like a sidekick!

Thankfully, for her heart and her pride, the ride ended a few minutes later as they arrived at the Multi Active Rescue Base Research Laboratory.

The [Railgun] couldn't have hopped off fast enough.

"Does the vibrating feeling go away?" The younger girl asked as she shook her legs in a vain attempt to alleviate the strange sensation that the ride had left them in.

Konori-sempai chuckled. "First time?"

"Yes." Mikoto nodded as she looked over the facility ahead of them and thought back to the plan laid out by Saten.

 _~Flashback~_

"Aren't you two leaving out their public lab?" Mikoto asked the two younger Level 5s curiously.

Said girls exchanged a look, before Namikaze yawned and waved for Saten to speak for the both of them.

"It's a waste of time." Saten declared confidently. "It's too obvious. My siblings won't be there."

"We should just skip it for now and look at their secret bases. Besides, I'm sure the Wicked Bitch's got some surprises there."

"You mean Capacity Down?" Kuroko chimed in, a worried look on her face.

The blonde shrugged. "She's probably got that in all of her bases. If I were you, I'd wait till I or Saten get done clearing the other bases first and we can join you. We're resistant to it after all."

"I can handle it."

"If you say so Sempai." Naru dismissed tiredly. "Who knows, maybe that thick skull of yours will actually give you some resistance to it."

"Hey!"

"Namikaze-san." Konori-sempai chided, causing the blonde to flinch. Something which in turn seemed to surprise the girl herself if the widening of her eyes were any indication.

"Okay, okay. I'll stop."

Konori-sempai nodded at the Number 2 and turned to the blonde's classmate. "Saten-san, can you tell us anything about what exactly is inside that facility?"

[Multi-Skill] froze for a moment as she wirelessly connected to the internet and presumably double checked her information, before replying. "It's their headquarters and testing lab for new equipment. More concerning however is the attached medical facility to house victims of emergencies that MAR responds to. Currently, it is occupied by fourteen patients hospitalized for unusual responses to the Poltergeist phenomenon."

"So a total BS cover story to run their own little tests under the guise of care?" Namikaze asked.

"I wouldn't phrase it that crudely, but yes."

"Wait a minute." Kuroko cut in. "Wasn't Kongou one of those hospitalized by MAR?"

"Kongou Mitsuko?" Heaven Canceler who had been happy to just observe the planning session till then asked. "Your schoolmate?"

The Tokiwadai girls nodded.

"Then yes. I recall it coming up in the briefings to the hospitals about the Poltergeist. There was a mention that MAR had taken a girl by that name from Tokiwadai into their care."

Kongou's schoolmates exchanged worried and uneasy looks.

"Don't worry girls." Konori-sempai reassured. "We'll rescue your friend. Along with everyone else. Won't we Sempai?"

Kurozuma-san didn't miss a beat and shot the girls a thumbs up.

"Well, if you're going then so am I. You'll need the firepower."

"If Onee-sama is-"

"Shirai-san." Konori-sempai interrupted her subordinate. "Did you forget that Uiharu-san is your partner?"

Kuroko looked torn but eventually yielded with a nod.

"Don't die till we get there to rescue you." Namikaze grimly joked as she stalked off to start her part of the mission.

 _~ Flashback Ends ~_

"Baka-Usagi." Mikoto scowled as she glanced at the cameras that were in view. She quickly used her powers to hack them and put them on a loop. "Cameras are down. Let's go in."

As the Level 5 stalked forward, Konori-sempai called after her. "Misaka-san, wait up. Let me take a look inside first."

"Labs are shielded against most types of Clairvoyance, aren't they? With whatever Therestina is working on, I'm sure this one is."

From what her Kohai explained about these Kihara, Mikoto was sure that the woman would be prepared enough to do such a thing.

Konori-sempai just smirked. "Even if so, I can still take a look and see if I can spot any details that might help us."

Mikoto nodded in understanding and the Judgement officer activated her ability.

The older girl frowned a second later and said. "I really don't like that woman."

"Why?" Kurozuma-san asked.

"Because she's waiting for us. Right there in some kind of modified powered suit." The Judgement agent informed the others while pointing towards the facility's main gate.

"So stealth is off the table, that's fine by me." The red haired man shrugged. "Not my speed anyway."

"As expected of a tactless low life." Therestina said disdainfully as the group stepped through the gate. "Then again that's exactly what made people like you the perfect tools to test Capacity Down for me."

"So you admit to being the one who supplied that system to Big Spider?" Konori-sempai asked with barely restrained anger.

"How else was I going to get the data to refine it?" The mad scientist said waving her hand dismissively. "After all, [The Alien]'s team wasn't even using it. They were letting the gem just sit in their database like a discarded toy. What a waste."

"Alien? Hey, don't make fun of my friend." Mikoto glared heatedly, electricity dancing across her knuckles.

"Oh? You're friends with that thing? How precious." Therestina chuckled darkly. "You have no idea what that thing is, do you?"

"Enough talk, you bitch!" Kurozuma-san shouted, as he slipped on a strange looking glove that had a hydraulic piston powered ram mounted on it and charged at her.

Seemingly unperturbed, the Kihara pulled a grenade launcher from her back and fired a shot at the man. Mikoto wasn't about to let her get away with it however and sent a bolt of electricity at the projectile causing it to detonate in mid-air.

"Are you idiots forgetting something?!" Therestina shouted in anger.

It was a moment later that heavy beats filled the airwaves, and Mikoto felt as if her brain was shaking. The pain was so great she fell to her knees. "Ugh, dammit!"

Therestina laughed as she pointed her grenade launcher at the girl. "Did you think you actually stood a chance?! Goodbye Level 5-chan!"

* * *

Wataru used the woman's gloating as the distraction it was to close the distance and strike.

 _Whatever this woman is, she's definitely not a fighter. Getting distracted_ that _easily in a fight? Amateur!_

He realized he might have been counting his chickens before they hatched though when the woman managed to put up a hasty block.

 _Probably thanks to the suit somehow._

A conclusion borne out by the fact that in her panic the woman had foolishly used her gun arm to block his punch. The force enhancing "Power Fist" glove lived up to everything Saten-chan said it would and easily shattered the powered suit's armor and dealt a bone breaking blow to the arm underneath.

"Like my glove? It's a gift from Saten-ojou." Wataru taunted as the launcher dropped from the grip of the woman's very broken arm and she stumbled back with a scream. "She asked me to use it to fuck you up."

"You-!" The woman's face was filled with utter rage, showing her ugly side in full force. "You filthy little Skill-Out! You won't even be an organ donor when I'm through with you!"

She went to kick him, but Wataru had managed to step out of range long before the kick was even in mid-arc.

"Heh, you're a shit fighter lady. Outside of your toys, I gotta ask, what good are you?"

Despite the advantage he had over the crazy lady at the moment, one glance by the redhead to the side had him frowning worriedly. Both Mii and the Shocky Ojou-chan were clearly in pain. Mii was on her knees and clutching her head while the Ojou-chan was barely staying on her feet as electricity built up around her.

"Take this!" The Level 5 shouted, but only a weak static burst came out. One that fizzled out long before hitting anything. She stumbled on her feet again, holding her head in pain.

He dashed over to help them out, but the bitch took the opening this gave her and shot a sloppy punch at him with her good arm.

Wataru easily ducked under it and and retaliated with a swing of his own. His power fist enhanced blow squarely hitting her in the chest and denting her armor. "Come on, try harder!"

He was going to follow up, but in the corner of his eye he spotted a group of armed troopers heading right for them. Spotting the men too, the cowardly woman backed off and fled behind her armed groupies.

"I'll deal with you later, Skill-Out trash!" The hag screamed even as she ran towards a waiting helicopter some distance away. "Guards, capture them alive! I want to make them suffer. Besides, the more guinea pigs the better. Especially that Level 5."

The men exchanged uncertain looks before with shrugs they put away their guns and instead pulled out electroshock clubs that he recognized as the same make as those used by Anti-Skill.

 _Damn cheapos. Can't even afford to use original equipment._

He had to put those thoughts on hold though as the men charged him, even as in the background the helicopter carrying their boss fled.

Jumping back into the fight, Wataru counter charged the men and punched one of them right in the face. Once again his power fist lived up to the hype he'd heard about it, from both Saten and on the net, and smashed right through the helmet of the guy's powered suit and knocked him unconscious probably breaking his nose or worse in the process.

"Ugh!" The little Ojou-chan shouted in pain, firing off another electrical burst right into the group of guards.

"Whoa!" Wataru exclaimed and dodged just in time as an unlucky guard got hit by the out of control bolt of lightning. "Easy there Ojou-chan! Watch where you're aiming"

Wataru turned to see another MAR guard taking a swing at him. He ducked once more and brought his fist into the guy's gut, shattering his suit's armor. The force of the blow was so great that it sent the armored man flying a distance before crashing to the ground in an undignified heap.

As luck would have it however this didn't come without a price, with the impressive display also taking its toll on his power fist. It had left some parts of the glove's machinery dented and caused others to fall off completely.

"Well shit." He cursed his luck.

As if things weren't bad enough, two of the men proved they were smarter than the brutes he'd been beating the tar out of when they decided to go after the relatively defenseless girls instead. The Ojou-chan tried to fend them off with bolts of lighting, but her shots were missing by a mile.

Acting quickly, Wataru ran to protect the girls. He easily swerved past the clumsy attempts to intercept him by the first two men in his way, even dancing around one goon who tried to tackle him. Unfortunately, this was exactly what the dude's buddy was waiting for. While Wataru was busy avoiding being hit by a charging armored bull of a man, he was struck in the back with a baton that sent tens of thousands of volts of electricity into his body.

He fell into a heap, biting back the pain.

"Urg, I need a powered suit next time." The Skill-Out grumbled as he shakily tried to get up, but fell to the ground. He looked up and saw the goons jabbing the girls with the electrified batons and cried out in rage. "Hey! Leave them alone, assholes!"

Already out of it thanks to the Capacity Down thingy, Mii was shocked into unconsciousness after a single touch of the glorified cattle prod. Seeing this, Wataru tried to get up to do something, anything. He was unfortunately rewarded for his attempt by being struck in the back by another shock baton. "Ugh, fucker!"

The Shocky Ojou-chan seemed to be safe from the taser, but that just made one of the goons hit her in the head with a baton to knock her out.

The redhead once more forced his pain filled body to get up, but the men were having none of it and began to whale on him with their batons. Grunting with each blow, he tried his best to shield himself.

" _Heh, threats neutralized. Cut the CD. It's damn annoying."_ One of the powered suits said, before turning to the others. _"Let's get them loaded up for transport."_

" _Sir, this one's still up."_

The apparent leader walked over to Wataru. _"Tenacious shit, aren't you? Just keep whaling on him, I'm sure the Boss won't mind."_

Wataru tightened his fist, trying to come up with some kind of plan even as the loud bass beat of Capacity Down was finally turned off.

His two companions were picked up as he took another strike to the back, which made him wince and close his eyes.

He waited for another strike but it never came. In its place was the sensation of a massive gust of wind flying overhead like the wake of a jet plane.

He opened his eyes to see the powered suits all staring upwards in shock. Turning to see what had them so spooked, he spotted their speaker tower's top - where it's speakers had been - had been taken out by what looked like one of their own trucks.

"What do you ruffians think you are doing?" A stern Ojou voice demanded.

Glancing over his shoulder, the Skill-Out saw a girl with long brunette hair in a hospital gown and an open oriental fan in her hand. She was standing in the MAR vehicle shed and glaring fiercely at its owners.

"I knew you were a fishy bunch, what with keeping me locked up here for no good reason. But using that uncouth system and to attack my friends no less is a step too far!"

By this point, Wataru's vision was starting to lose focus but he still managed to catch the girl smacking another of the MAR trucks next to her with her fan and using her ability to send it flying towards the now panicking goons.

"Now that girl has style." The redhead grinned tiredly as blackness took over his vision.

* * *

Kongou Mitsuko had never expected to be in the position she was in now. At least not before she'd come to Academy City. A lot of things had changed since she'd transferred into the City. That said, this situation was still a little beyond her expectations.

Here she was sitting in a hospital room in a facility run by someone with the most ridiculous of names, Heaven Canceler, waiting for her friend Misaka Mikoto to get up from being knocked unconscious in a fight against what it seemed were terrorists masquerading as the City's emergency rescue service.

 _Which is completely insane!_ Mitsuko screamed in the depths of her mind, well behind the facade of the prim and proper young lady of means she'd been groomed all her life to wear. _And the only ones fighting them are a bunch of young girls! And I'm one of them!_

Though considering the group included three of the world's most powerful espers maybe it wasn't _that_ crazy. _But still! Most of us aren't even 14 yet!_

Which was telling as [The Robot], vaunted across their school and the net as being the person possibly most in control of her emotions in the whole world was having a meltdown.

"What if she does something stupid and gets hurt? Or worse? What then Uiharu? I can't lose her. I can't." The Number 3 said in a monotone voice that did nothing to hide her distress.

"Don't worry Saten-san. Kiyama-sensei will be fine. We'll find her before anything happens to her." The girl's best friend comforted, surprisingly calm in the face of the other girl's obvious anxiety. Either she was used to these kind of situations and had learnt how to compartmentalize whatever she was feeling or she genuinely believed what she was saying. Or maybe both.

At least Namikaze-san was there, Mitsuko was thankful for that. It was why she'd tried her best to keep near the blonde the whole time that she'd been in this room of powerhouses and authority figures. Awatsuki-chan's roommate was her anchor in the madhouse she'd suddenly found herself in.

"Saten-chan, calm down. Going into a panic is what that twisted witch wants. You want to play her games?"

The glare sent the blonde's way made Mitsuko inwardly scream as she shifted behind the Number 2.

 _Namikaze-san! Please don't rile her up!_

The Level 4 didn't know what to think of this highly emotional Saten Ruiko, it was so alien to see the usually stoic girl get so worked up. Sure, she and everyone else in school had noted how she'd been thawing lately since she'd started spending time with Namikaze-san and Misaka-san. You'd have to blind and deaf to have missed the signs after the Midsummer Festival. Despite that, the sheer level of emotion that she was displaying at the moment left Mitsuko floored.

 _Is this the power of friendship?_ Mitsuko mused. _To be able to help someone like [The Robot] out of her shell, their friendship must be something special indeed._

The Aero Hand user was drawn from her thoughts when a noise came from the bed.

"Ugh." Misaka-san said as she pushed herself up from the bed. "Huh? Where am I? What happened?"

"Sempai got her butt royally kicked!"

The [Railgun] went from confused to annoyed in a second flat. "Don't sound so cheerful, you Baka-Chibi!"

"Hehe, I warned you to wait for one of us." The blonde shook her head, the pigtails she set up while waiting moving with her. "You've gotta stop being so rash, Sempai. It was a good thing Kongou-chan was there otherwise I would have had to go on a rampage all over that place."

The blonde patted the taller brunette on the shoulder in appreciation.

"Yeah. Yeah." Misaka-san said dismissively, before turning towards Mitsuko and offering a grateful smile. "Thanks for the save back there, Kongou-san."

Mitsuko flushed at all the praise and snapped her fan open to cover her face with it. "I-It's nothing at all! I was simply doing what was right. Not as if those ruffians were a match for me, hohoho!"

"I know that!" Saten-san shouted from her corner, gaining everyone's attention. "But she's my mother. And I'm worried."

Mitsuko shifted in worry, even as Misaka-san questioned Namikaze-san. "What's going on with that?"

"Kiyama-sensei flew the coop." Namikaze-san explained with a sigh. "Probably to do something reckless and stupid. Saten-chan has been worrying since she lost track of her."

"She lost track of her?"

"Yup. She's Saten's Kaa-san, she knows all her tricks."

Mitsuko was lost, she had no idea what the Level 5s were talking about. She didn't say anything though, admitting her ignorance was a weakness she wasn't ready to allow. So she simply nodded in faux understanding.

"Saten!" Misaka-san called out from her bed. When the aforementioned girl turned to face her, she continued. "Relax will you? Your Kaa-san is probably going after MAR, so all we need to do is to take them out before she gets hurt doing whatever she plans to."

 _It's probably not a good idea to remind her that her mother is in danger, Misaka-san._

She let out the small whimper she had been holding in until now as the Number 3 glared at their sempai.

"Don't remind me. Each minute counts! And I'm just here sitting on my hands! I have to get out there, we-we need a plan. I have to think." She said and began to pace, muttering words in an incoherent stream tinged with a palpable sense of worry and frustration.

Suddenly, Shirai-san teleported into the room with Konori-san before disappearing again and rematerializing a moment later with that ruffian Kurozuma-san in tow.

"Onee-sama, you're awake!" The teleporter exclaimed, before forgetting all decorum and proceeding to tackle her roommate with a hug. The electromaster tolerated it for a moment before the younger girl's hands began to wander - _Hmph! How indecent._ \- and she shocked her.

Ignoring the antics with an ease that Mitsuko could only chalk up to experience, Konori-san addressed the rest of the room.

"I just got off the phone with Yomikawa-san. Anti-Skill is mobilizing against MAR."

"They won't be much use though, not against the witch's big guns." Namikaze-san declared dismissively.

"Agreed." Saten-san said as she stopped her pacing. "But at least they'll be able to tie down some of her assets."

"Your head in the game now?" Misaka-san asked as she pushed a twitching but insensate Shirai-san off her. "'Cause we need your help right now."

Saten-san took a deep breath before nodding.

"Phew. For a moment there, I thought I needed to get Uiharu-chan to slap you again."

"Namikaze-san!" A red-faced Uiharu-san shouted, sounding scandalized.

 _A Level 1 slapping a Level 5? What!?_ Mitsuko's mind stuttered in confusion as she tried to process what kind of insane situation would lead to something like that happening.

Namikaze-san cocked her head in confusion. "What? If you didn't I would have. And I don't hold back when it comes to my love taps."

 _A slap is a love tap?! Awatsuki-san is right, Namikaze-san can be a bit ruthless when need be._

Even as the others began exchanging banter, Saten-san froze. It was downright unnerving but no one else seemed to pay it any mind at all.

 _More strangeness? I don't know if I can take any more._

"Done." Saten-san declared in a robotic voice. "MAR is on the move. I've uploaded the data to Uiharu's tablet."

"Got it!"

"Great." Namikaze-san declared with a predatory grin on her face. "It's time to go hunting."

Something about that grin made Mitsuko deeply uneasy.

 _What in the world have I gotten myself involved in!?_

* * *

The group was currently driving around in a personalized mobile base. The van was sleek and had all the fancy enhancements to its engines, suspension, tires and other working parts that a Dark Sider would need in a vehicle. All wrapped up in a relatively nondescript package that allowed it to fit in with the busy streets of the City without drawing unwanted attention. With its rear converted into a sitting area that included leather seats with attached variable size cup holders and overhead storage racks for gear and other stuff that included a fridge currently stocked with a selection of drinks, it was quite the luxurious transport.

"Sempai, where did you get the van?" Konori-sempai asked as she eyed the fancy interior.

Kurozuma-san just shrugged. "This is something blondie got me."

"What happened to your bike?" The senior Judgement agent teased.

"Not practical for this. We'll go riding again another time." The man sent back with a smile.

Mii blushed at that invitation, and stammered out a reply. "S-Sure."

 _ **Ah! Young love.**_ Kurama commented with a wistful sigh. Naru just ignored him, he was going on a strange tangent again as he was wont to do. She'd learned long ago to ignore him when he did.

"So what do the rest of you think?" Naru asked from her seat, where unlike the others who were belted in, she stuck to her seat via chakra. She was kicking her legs in a carefree fashion as she looked around the interior. "I didn't think Kurozuma would have to use this during this Op, but if it works, it works. Still trying to think up a name though."

"You want to name it?" Misaka-sempai said with a deadpan look.

"It's awesome on wheels. I don't have to drive, but if I did I'd want something like this."

"Too flashy." Saten commented, looking unimpressed. "Big waste of money on unnecessary luxury that will be damaged the moment it sees action too."

"Hmph, you just can't appreciate style. Besides, this is armored and can take a few hits from most conventional hardware. Besides, didn't your toy glove fall apart?"

"It was a prototype." Saten shot back defensively. "Kurozuma-san was never meant to use it in actual combat yet, just test it out. Besides, your armor will mean nothing to an RPG or any of the more lethal abilities out there."

"Uiharu-chan seems to like it." Said girl looked up from sipping the canned drink she'd fished out of the fridge the moment they got onboard and looked between the bickering Level 5s in confusion. Apparently, she'd been too distracted by the tablet in her lap and her drink to keep track of the conversation.

Saten shook her head at her best friend's questioning look before replying with an accompanying shrug. "Sure, but she isn't going to be the one who has to pay for having this thing cleaned when your drinks spill all over the leather or if it gets damaged in a fight and we need to replace things. There's a good reason why combat gear is utilitarian."

 _ **You know they're right, don't you? I've been trying to tell you that for ages.**_

 _Oh shut up, you walking fur coat!_

Naru rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I've got a few of these. And they were given to me for a job I did, so they're free."

"Gotta agree with Saten here, Chibi. You let yourself get fleeced." Misaka-sempai remarked. "Betcha if you didn't demand all the luxurious stuff, you'd have gotten a better deal."

Naru pouted and crossed her arms. "Hmph, let's just go over what we're doing."

"Namikaze-san, don't pout." Uiharu-chan told her. "I think it's nice."

"I do too." Kongou-san added in tentatively.

Naru's ego was appeased by this as Saten shook her head.

"You two are enabling her."

"I don't see what's wrong with it." Uiharu-chan said, as she pressed at the screen of her tablet and activated a hidden projector. "But let's focus on the situation at hand for now. Kurozuma-san is currently driving us towards the MAR trucks that Saten-san found using some traffic cams. From what we can see, Kiyama-sensei is ahead of us."

"Sadly, these are dummies." Shirai-chan frowned, as she looked up from her phone. "Anti-Skill has informed us of this. They've also helpfully began clearing the traffic so we won't have civilians all over the place when we engage them."

"That should make our lives a whole lot easier." Naru continued. "After we take out their Capacity Down systems, Kurozuma, Konori-sempai, and Kongou-chan will stay and tie down the goons in those trucks while the rest of us go after the real targets."

"Leave it to me, Namikaze-san!" Kongou-chan said, looking combat ready, though Naru could see a small quiver in her frame. She was nervous, but willing to help out.

Naru smiled kindly at her. "I know I can, Kongou-chan. Next, the rest of us will group up and track down the bitch of a witch and nail her saggy ass."

"Keep in radio contact though." Saten advised, as she passed out the self contained earpiece radios. "If anyone encounters unexpectedly heavy trouble, call for help."

"Shirai-chan, Saten-chan, and I will teleport to you as fast as we can."

"Let's do this, Team Trinity!" Uiharu-chan pumped her fist in the air.

"Since when did that name become official?" Misaka-sempai moaned in annoyance.

"Um, I thought that was the case for a while now?" Uiharu-chan flustered. "Namikaze-san said you guys were all for it."

The other members of the Trinity glared at Naru, who whistled innocently.

 _ **Told you it would backfire.**_

 _Don't make me come in there!_

"Save the chit chat, girls." Kurozuma-san in a serious voice that he rarely used. "We're here."

With that declaration the van suddenly began to swerve wildly from side to side. Naru unfazed by the force of the sudden motion, stood up and walked over to the rear of the van and grabbed hold of the rear door's handle. "Tell me when!"

"Now!"

Naru pushed the doors open and leapt out while unleashing a barrage of fireballs that took out the tires of the MAR trucks. Over her head, a series of thin lasers curved unnaturally through the air and hit various parts of the trucks as Saten took out their Capacity Down systems.

Under the combined barrage by the two Level 5s, the trucks were forced to brake hard. So hard that sparks flew into the air as they came to a stop. Kiyama-sensei reacted quickly and managed to avoid a collision by quickly switching lanes and going around the now disabled trucks. She shot pass the team's truck before braking and coming to a stop somewhere behind them.

 _Good. She's out of the immediate line of fire._

MAR wasn't down for the count yet though and several panels opened up on the side of the disabled vehicles to allow two dozen armed powered suits to disembark.

"Let's get this show on the road!"

* * *

While everyone filed out of the van to fight the MAR soldiers, Kazari teleported with Saten-san to Kiyama-sensei's car.

"Kaa-san, you were following the wrong trucks. Wait for us to get onboard. We'll escort you." Saten-san rattled off so quickly Kazari barely understood her.

Kiyama-sensei didn't have a problem though and with a frustrated sigh nodded. Just then, Shirai-san teleported into the backseat of the car with long belts of her nails and took a seat.

Misaka-san jumped onto the roof with a thud causing Kiyama-sensei to let out an annoyed hiss. "Second time in a week."

As Uiharu slid into the front passenger seat, she looked behind her to see Konori-sempai, Kurozuma-san and Kongou-san engage the MAR gunmen. Konori-sempai was using her Clairvoyance to spot where the men were taking cover thus allowing Kongou-san to launch random bits of debris with her Aero Hand at them and forcing them into the open where Kurozuma-san would whack them into unconsciousness with the gun he was wielding like a bat. They tried to shoot at the group, but without leaving the backseat Shirai-san quickly put an end to that by filling their guns with her nails. A couple of helicopters were in bound but Naru-san just teleported the crews out and into Kurozuma-san's path while Misaka-san took them out with a couple of railgun shots. Saten-san meanwhile was suppressing the MAR troops with energy beams from atop a floating chunk of the flyover that she kept close to the car.

"Go straight, Kiyama-sensei." Kazari directed as she finished buckling up and turned her attention away from the fighting behind them.

With a nod, Kiyama-sensei sped off.

Namikaze-san who had flown to the right of the speeding car, turned to speak to Saten-san who kept pace on the other side. "Were my eyes playing tricks on me? Or is that redheaded baka using that railgun rifle you gave him as a club?"

Saten-san just nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, he is. He obviously doesn't know how much that thing costs. Ugh! I'll just get him a fancy bat next time."

Namikaze-san snickered.

"Kaa-san, just drive faster please. And don't worry, we'll get them back." The Number 3 changed the topic to offer reassurance to her mother.

"And totally murder that bitch."

"Namikaze-san." Shirai-san warned.

"I'm with Naru-san on this. She's not breathing." Saten-san said in a dangerous tone.

"No killing!" Misaka-san shouted at her two kohai.

"Fine, fine, beat her near to death?" The blonde asked hopefully.

"As a member of Judgement, I can accept that." Shirai-san hummed.

"Kuroko!"

"Onee-sama, I'm sorry, but this woman needs more than a pair of cuffs."

"And you guys say I can't focus on the mission." Namikaze-san chided, earning a chastised look from Shirai-san and presumably from Misaka-san as well. "Uiharu-chan, figured out where she's going yet?"

"Based on her current course… Yes, I've got it. She's headed for an abandoned propulsion system lab in District 23 that's owned by Kihara Gensei."

Saten-san frowned in concentration for a moment before a smirk spread across her face. "There's an exit ramp she'll need to take. It's the perfect place to-"

"Cut her off with brimstone and fire?" Namikaze-san finished with a smirk of her own.

"Lots of fire."

"I love you when you're this ruthless."

"Girls, less talk more fighting the enemy."

"Yes, Kaa-san." "Yes, ma'am."

* * *

With their destination fixed, it was a simple matter of stopping the car and teleporting it and everyone in it to the exit ramp they needed to secure.

It seemed that they weren't the only ones who realized the importance of the ramp though, as instead of finding MAR trying to speed down it. They instead saw the large collection of trucks stopped by the side of the road just before the ramp and disgorging an army of powered suits.

Most intimidating of all though were the trio of huge machines that Kazari's research identified as MAR's Gigantic Advanced Movement Armors. They were designed for heavy lifting during emergency rescue situations, but these were heavily modified to serve a far more deadly purpose. They all had shoulder mounted mortars, missile pods filled with micro missiles running down the centre of their backs that were visible as they turned to face the group and a gatling gun mounted on either side of the hips.

"Time to bring hell on earth." Namikaze-san said, conjuring a pair of raging fireballs in her hands.

Electrical orbs floated around Saten-san as she nodded. "Fire."

The blonde combined the two balls of flame and released a tidal wave of fire.

The wave of flame scorched the front ranks of the army and Saten-san's beams blasted deep trenches in their ranks.

"Hey! What did I say about killing people!? Misaka-san demanded in shock at the other Level 5s' brutal opening salvo.

"Don't worry so much." Saten-san distractedly reassured. "They're mostly automated."

"I didn't think we'd be up against an army." Shirai-san gulped, visibly intimidated even as the machines finally opened up with their weapons only for their fire to run into a steadily thickening dome of defensive barriers courtesy of Saten-san.

"It's not that impressive." Namikaze-san told them. "Think of it as target practice."

"Agreed." Saten-san said with a nod. "It's battalion strength at best. Nothing I've not handled before."

"I mean, we've got three army destroyers right here."

As if in response to that statement, MAR took action to even out their odds and started pumping Capacity Down out through the District's public announcement system. Immediately Kazari felt her head overwhelmed by an intense headache that made it almost impossible to think much less do anything. If the agonised expression on Shirai-san's face was any indication, she felt the same. Misaka-san was likely in the same boat too.

"Uiharu!" Saten-san cried out in concern.

"Saten-chan, we've gotta focus and take out the system." The blonde shouted at her as she destroyed another wave of powered suits.

Kazari felt a hand shoved in front of her face. She painfully opened her eyes to see Kiyama-sensei's opened palm holding out two blue glowing ear plugs.

The Judgement officer grabbed them and shoved them into her ears. In an instant the painful sound was gone and she could hear Saten-san calling out to her.

"Saten-san, I'm okay!"

"Sorry, I forgot about those." Kiyama-sensei said with an apologetic smile. "They're a prototype of a system to counter Capacity Down. It's programmed to broadcast the antiphase to the sound it uses, even has sensors and programming to allow it to adapt to any changes in frequency. So it should keep you safe no matter what modifications Lifeline has made." The scientist turned towards the army and shot it a glare that was probably aimed at its leader. "I developed it in my spare time after I learned the enemy was using Capacity Down, but it wasn't really my focus so there's only this one prototype."

"That's-!" Namikaze-san pouted. Most likely upset over the fact that someone had invented a counter to her system. "I'm cool with this for now, but please don't distribute that around Kiyama-sensei."

"No promises."

The blonde looked grumpy at this, but that didn't stop her from taking out another dozen or so advancing powered suits with a barrage of wind blades.

"Uiharu, you need to hack into the District's systems and take out the Capacity Down." Saten-san informed her as she gave Kazari's shoulder a reassuring squeeze and stepped away to help Namikaze-san. "Naru-san and I will hold them off."

"Right."

 _No pressure. I've just got to stop the system torturing two of my friends while another two of them faces off against an army._

"You can do it Uiharu-chan." Kiyama-sensei said with a confident nod.

 _No pressure at all._

* * *

 **Done and done! Phew! Another one down. Thanks to the team of Nameless and Ax as usual.**

 **SO LONG CHAPTER, HUH? You gotta be thinking, what else could go into this one?!**

 **Nameless: So believe it or not, this long-ass chapter was supposed to also include the final battle of the arc too. But when we reached the point we did end at, we just couldn't resist the cliffhanger. Hope you guys like it.**

 **Talking about the final battle, we hope we did what's about to come justice by giving MAR some heavier ordinance. Logically, since she's facing three Level 5s this time, two of which are resistant to Capacity Down, Lifeline would make other countermeasures. The heavy equipment so far is only the beginning.**

 **On a related note, we got some conflicting reviews on the nature of our fights. Some want us to just have our MCs stomp any and all opposition, while others want us to give them a challenge. After some thought we, as you might have guessed, have decided to go with the latter. We thought it would be more interesting this way. Stomp fics are fun and all but if the Trinity just stomped all their opposition then they wouldn't grow. People, especially characters in adventure stories like this fic, tend to grow the most when facing adversity after all. So look forward to us trying to put the girls through the wringer in each arc and hopefully introduce them to some increasing difficulty as the story progresses.**

 **E4E: We've had some growing character development here, Saten's emotionless mask is slipping more and more. Sure this event is taxing, but I like her outbreaks and fits. Also, Naru's wallowing on being sent alone shows she's growing accustomed to her companions. And apparently Kurama wants to be a Youtube star, go figure. Wataru had a moment to shine and we got a POV from Kongou! I adored it personally and hope to do it again some time later. It's nice to see our MCs and their actions/antics from minor characters' perspectives.**

 **Nameless: So to continue the theme for this arc's titles we kept it in German as a nod to the German origins of the word Poltergeist. In this case, "** **Präludium zum Kampf"** **which translates to "Prelude to Battle"** **. At least, it is according to Google. Again, I beg the pardon for anyone who are fluent German speakers for any errors.**

 **We've been in a German mood as of late, I blame Tanya the Evil, that demonic business loli. Or that Naru has some German themes to her, still hope you've all enjoyed the chapter!**

 **Be sure to smash that review button and tell us what you like! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Ten:** **Paradies Gefunden**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

Even as the high-pitched screech that was Capacity Down rent the air, both Ruiko and Naru-san faced MAR's army unafraid. Neither of the Level 5s had anything to fear from the device. A fact that sparked curiosity in the mind of the brunette.

"Naru-san, how is it that Capacity Down isn't working on you?" Ruiko asked with genuine interest, even as she casually fired out yet another salvo of beam attacks into the thinning but still numerous crowd of powered suits.

"Nothing as fancy as your offloading to your AIM body," Naru-san replied as she fired off a brace of fireballs at the enemy. "Capacity Down was developed by my Power Development Team so I ended up training a lot with it, learned how to work around it in the process. Plus the frequency Lifeline is using is off for me."

Ruiko nodded in understanding. "Thanks to the unique nature of your powers?"

"Yup." Naru-san said cheerfully even as a bloodthirsty grin stretched across her face. "So want to make a game of this turkey shoot?"

Impaling a dozen powered suits on a volley of Dark Matter spears, Ruiko tilted her head curiously to the side while playing along. "I'll take the hundred on the left and you can take the hundred on the right?"

"Bonus points for the big ones?" The blonde asked, an eager gleam in her eyes.

Resisting the urge to sigh at her friend's bloodlust, Ruiko just shook her head. "No, they only count as one!"

"Tsk, spoilsport."

"Done chit chatting, you brats?" The Kihara woman's annoying voice blasted out from the speakers of all the suits arrayed in front of them. "What arrogance! Do you think just because you two are Level 5s that you can reduce standing in the way of my experiment to a game?"

Naru-san looked like she had a witty comeback, but managed to stop herself.

Saten glowered at the voice. "I won't let you carry out whatever sick experiment you're planning with my siblings!"

"You think you have a better claim, [Multi-Skill]? Just because your powers were awakened by grandfather's experiment?" The mad scientist mocked.

Naru-san nudged Ruiko, and the taller girl nodded in reply. Acting in sync the duo launched a combined attack.

With an exaggerated stomp of her right foot, the [Elemental Empress] caused a localized earthquake that shook the flyover they were fighting on to its very foundations. Many of the lesser powered suits lost their balance due to the tremor and fell to the ground. Even the three massive Gigantic Advanced Movement Armors were forced to fire anchoring lines into the ground to remain upright.

Taking advantage of this, Ruiko unleashed the biggest barrage of beams she'd fired in the fight so far. With the earth still shaking under them and many of them helplessly rolling on the ground, dozens of the lesser powered suits were vaporized by her attack. Unfortunately, the GAMAs were made of sterner stuff. The huge mechs simply brought up their bulky arms as shields. Even though the beams melted them into slag, they simply ejected the destroyed parts and replaced them with one of the three pairs of spare arms mounted on their backs.

"Staking your claim by force?" The delusional woman shrieked. "Well, you'll have to do better than that. My claim precedes yours! And I'm not giving it up! As the first subject in the experiment to test Ability Body Crystals, I'm the only one who has the right to see it through to its fruition and use it to create a Level 6!"

The towering armor units aimed their mounted artillery at the Level 5s. Rapid popping and booming releases filled the air as they began to rain mortar and gunfire on the group. Considering the suddenly increased rate of fire from these heavy weapons, MAR had only been warming them up till now. Not that it mattered to Ruiko, her barriers could withstand an assault of this caliber nigh indefinitely.

"Looks like you're the one who needs to do better." Naru-san shot back. "And about your so called claim? Grow up, you bitch! Just because you were a victim too doesn't give you the right to victimize others!"

"I was never a victim!" The psychotic woman bellowed in outrage. "I brought a new age to science! It was my suffering that led to the invention of the Body Crystal! Even to the creation of a level 5! I'm a martyr for science and I won't let my sacrifice be in vain. I will not let that blasted Kiyama steal my valuable samples for her own ends!"

With each word that came out of the deranged hag's mouth, Ruiko's outrage grew. Something that manifested in the fury in her eyes, which were beginning to glow with a slight rainbow light. "We aren't like _you_. We don't see my siblings as samples, they're people! My family! I'll never let you touch them!"

The demented woman let out a snort of disbelief. "And you claim I'm deluded."

Ruiko's rage unleashed itself in a warcry as beams bombarded the enemy forces, destroying scores of MAR's lesser forces. She was ready to charge in like a mad girl but Naru-san stopped her.

"Woah there Miss Gundam." Naru-san chided as she put a restraining arm on Ruiko's arm. "Don't forget you're the only thing keeping the others safe. You stay here and play defense and provide fire support, I'll do the CQC."

The brunette looked at her in frustration. "But-!"

"No buts! You've gotta keep that head of yours on straight. We need to play to our strengths on this."

Ruiko knew she was right, but still, she wanted to do more than hang back. She wanted to charge right in and destroy every last thing the Kihara held dear.

"Fine, get out there and bring hell."

Naru-san smirked at her as red energy - the kind she only used in her trump cards - poured out of her body and formed into a solid piece of armor. The result, to Ruiko's mind, was a suit that looked liked something a demonic and robotic red Power Ranger would wear. It was an overall very lean looking suit, made up of various armor pieces constructed out of hardened energy that were worn over a undersuit of roiling red chakra. On her right forearm, there was a small diamond shaped shield with what looked to be a blade folded into it. One hip held a sheathed long blade. while the other held a short sword. It was completed by a compact jetpack on the back that had a pair of bladed wings folded to its side.

 _She watches way too many sentai shows._ Ruiko couldn't help but think to herself even as she opened a portal in the dome to allow her friend to blur through to rip into their enemies.

* * *

Naru felt the rush of her blood as she ran so fast that her surroundings began to blur together. If not for the specialized enhancement to her senses that came along with her Jäger Frame to compensate, she'd probably have ran straight into a wall. It was issues like that and the little problem of the damage to her surroundings that her pushing the Frame's Mach 1 upper speed limit would cause that prevented her from using this Frame often. It was also why she felt exhilarated every time that she did get the chance, even if it usually meant toning it way down from its full potential.

 _ **Julienne this hunk of metal.**_ Kurama cheered as Naru closed in with the nearest of the GAMA mechs.

Flicking out the blade folded in her shield while drawing her long blade from its sheathe, Naru crossed her blades. With a furious cry, she began to dance around the towering machine like a red streak, slashing at it. Her corrosive blades sunk into the armor with ease, leaving deep cuts even as the deadly chakra they transmitted continued to spread through its structure like a metallic cancer. The ungainly thing tried to futilely fend her off, but in moments it was reduced to nothing more than rapidly degrading scrap metal. The only part unscathed was the escape pod that shot out of the wreckage to safety.

" **Next."** Naru spoke with a demonic tenor to her voice, her visor glowing red.

Her blood pumping, she blitzed towards the the next walking piece of scrap.

"So confident! Well, why don't we see how you like this little Miss [Alien]-chan!" The oddly unfazed Kihara taunted.

The reason for the woman's confidence revealed itself when Naru was suddenly hit by a powerful blow that knocked her off her feet.

 _What!?_ The Level 5s surprise was wholly warranted. Not only had she been running at an absurd speed thanks to her Jäger Frame, but said Frame despite being the physically least protective of her special Frames still offered protection equivalent to a modern main battle tank. Taking that into consideration, that anything had the accuracy to even hit her _and_ the power to do so hard enough to send her flying was a shock.

She rolled along the ground and her wings folded out, digging into the ground to slow her down. Coming to a stop, she attempted to get up, only for her shoulder to release an explosion of pain that made Naru cry out.

 _ **Keep calm, you've got fragments in your shoulder.**_ Kurama told her as he focused his chakra into the wound. _**They're proving hard to push out, give me a minute.**_

 _A anti-regenerator fragmentary bullet? Made of anti-chakra Dark Matter?_ Naru asked incredulously.

 _ **Yes, now be quiet and let me work. Oh, and roll to the left.**_

 _Huh?_

Before the blonde could even process what the fox was on about, she was teleported back inside the barrier dome, right next to Saten who fired a barrage of beams at a distant rooftop while a plume of dust exploded where she had just been as a powerful bullet impacted the ground.

"Naru-san, are you alright?" The brunette asked her, her eyes locked on a small moving object that was hopping from rooftop to rooftop.

"I've been shot." Naru stated in a stunned tone, still trying to process what had happened. She winced as two tiny pieces of metal popped out of her shoulder. "Kurama, hurry up."

 _ **I'm going as fast as I can.**_

 _Go faster. I've got a bastard to utterly destroy._ Naru thought to her tenant while she grunted as another bullet fragment was pushed out of her shoulder and she followed Saten's gaze.

Using her chakra, she enhanced her sight and saw what looked to be a specialised powered suit. Like her own Jäger Frame, it was a largely lean thing but that was where the similarities ended. Where her Jäger's appearance revolved around blades, her opponent's suit was focused on making its user the best sniper possible. It had a large helmet that was probably full of various devices that enhanced the user's aim and was large and bulky around the hips and upper legs, probably with hidden machinery under the armor to provide its user with the enhanced speed it was displaying. It sported small thrusters across the body as well that greatly increased agility with well timed bursts, allowing the suit's occupant to pull off moves that should have been impossible. Something that proved essential to whoever it was as she evaded Saten's persistent attempts to introduce her to a side of some flavor of energy beam while lugging around a sophisticated looking sniper rifle.

"That son of a whore [Dark Matter] is really pissing me off now." Naru said as she slowly got to her feet, wincing as more bits of metal were forced out of her shoulder.

"Get him later. We have a-Oh shit!" Saten's eyes widened in surprise.

Turning to look at what had the other Level 5 so spooked, Naru's face blanched as one of the GAMAs reached into the open roof of a trailer and pulled out a big gun that had a series of fat cables trailing behind it and back into the vehicle.

"Is that a particle accelerator cannon?"

 _ **We're screwed.**_ The chakra construct sealed inside Naru noted with a tinge of real fear as the weapon's muzzle began to glow with a steadily building charge.

"...I don't think my shields can handle that." Saten swallowed heavily.

"No, they won't." The wicked bitch cackled like a cliched villain. "Not for long at least!"

"Use your electromastery." Naru told the Number 3 hastily, she knew that kind of cannon was just a scaled up version of [Meltdowner]'s ability. Their sempai's electromastery was a direct counter to the psycho Number 6, something that the blonde knew well from that wannabe fashionista's bitching about it on more than one occasion when they had crossed paths. "Hell, or accelerator!"

The final bits of metal came out of her shoulder.

 _ **And the healing's done.**_ The ancient fox said with a resigned air. _**Not that it'll matter against that thing.**_

"I can't manage both the power and control needed at the same time." The other Level 5 exclaimed, "I'm not Sempai or Accel!"

Saten had just finished making that disheartening assessment when the cannon finished charging and fired an immense beam of green energy at the barrier dome they were hunkered behind.

"That damn bitch came prepared for us."

Saten nodded, too focused on keeping her barriers from collapsing to respond verbally.

"Ha! Did you think I was stupid!? Of course I did!" The Kihara jeered. "Now perish, you little guinea pigs!"

As the knitting of her skin finished, Naru looked at Saten, who looked slightly strained as the beam carved into the dome. "I'll go and take it out. Just hang in there."

"Just go!" Saten said through gritted teeth, her arms starting to shake.

The blonde dashed towards the edge of the barrier, an unevenly edged hole opening in it to let her through. It was a far cry from the perfectly circular portal Saten had created for her the first time she'd sallied forth.

 _Damn. The strain must be terrible._

 _ **Her pain right now is insane. Worse than you can imagine.**_ Kurama confirmed, his tone radiating respect. _ **The only thing stronger is her determination. She's one hell of a girl.**_

 _Yeah. Well, let's not let her perseverance be in vain._ Naru replied with all her resolve. _Just hang in there, Saten!_

Determined to save her friend, Naru readied her blades as she charged at the hulking titan with the large cannon. She made it halfway there before she stopped herself short when a bullet grazed her side. Whether it was due to her bad luck or the superiority of the bullet's design, the fleeting contact was enough to cause it to fragment. Like before, the accursed Dark Matter shrapnel passed through her armor like it wasn't there and Naru released a pained curse as a half dozen or so bits pierced her skin and lodged themselves in her flesh.

Despite her pain, she ducked behind the broken remains of a powered suit for cover, meagre though it was, barely dodging a second shot in the process.

"Come on, we need to take that thing down."

 _ **It's not that easy, these things are tearing into your flesh even as I push them out. Why not just go Festung?**_

"And leave myself open for a headshot? Yeah, no." Naru grunted as three bits wiggled out her side.

 _ **Throw in some zig zagging?**_

"Against a pro like this sniper? Seriously!?"

 _ **We could risk a teleport?**_ Kurama suggested uncertainly.

More metal fragments popped out and Naru shook her head. "Since when have we pulled a teleport off when Capacity Down is in play? You know how it messes with my perception of the 11th Dimension! Do you want me to lose a foot in the middle of this?"

 _ **Alright. But you better get out there like a bat out of hell, because you're all healed up.**_

Taking a deep breath, Naru nodded and waited a second before leaping out of cover and narrowly avoiding a shot in the process. The instant she landed, she pushed off the ground again and darted towards the GAMA unit.

She banked left and shifted to the right in random intervals, never stopping even as shots trailed after her. She knew that the moment she did, she'd earn herself a third eye and a trip to the afterlife.

 _Fuck this! Without Saten's fire support the ass isn't even bothering to reposition between shots._

A powered suit reached out to grab her and she banked right, but the damage had been done. The suit had successfully herded her into the way of the sniper's shot. Realizing what was going to happen, Naru twisted her body around desperately trying to move her vitals out of position. Her luck held and she managed to get away with nothing more than a shot through the right kneecap.

"Son of a-!" Naru shouted as she quickly scampered into cover behind a car, hissing in pain. She glanced at her mangled knee and banged the back of her head against the car.

"I'm ripping him in three." The Number 2 grunted as she looked at her knee again, but frowned. "They haven't hit anything vital yet. Either they're sadists or my speed has to be throwing off whatever system they're using to assist with aiming."

An extra layer of Kurama's chakra coated her injured leg.

 _ **You won't be moving that joint on your own in your condition.**_ The fox said sounding oddly wary.

 _I don't have the time to wait for it to heal. Saten can't hold out much longer._

 _ **I know. So I'll move it for you.**_ Kurama replied as the excess chakra formed into a series of new mechanisms centred around her shredded knee. _**It's gonna hurt like a bitch though.**_

 _More than Saten is hurting?_

 _ **Dunno.**_ Kurama shrugged.

 _Then I'll just handle it._

"Once more unto the breach!"

With that, Naru broke out of cover once more, the thruster on her back firing, propelling her forward like a rocket towards her target as a bullet whizzed past her head.

* * *

While Naru-san was braving the deadly sniper, Ruiko was too busy to help her with fire support. Something that killed her. Not that she had any choice in the matter, not when the enormous beam from the particle accelerator cannon was eating away at the barriers of the dome keeping everyone else safe and she struggled to keep it up.

 _Kaa-san, Uiharu, Misaka-sempai, Shirai-san. I'll keep you all safe._ Ruiko vowed with every scrap of determination she could muster even as she devoted every spare bit of computational power - reduced as it was by Capacity Down shutting down her biological brain's load - to maintaining the barriers.

As a result, layer after layer was added to the barrier dome. Unfortunately this only barely kept pace with those that shattered, forcing the Number 3 to put ever more of her dwindling reserves of calculative power into just keeping it from collapsing altogether. The strain was starting to take its toll, already she'd been forced to shift computational power from motor control and her pain perception. As a result, she was only dimly aware as she fell to her knees and blood began pouring from her eyes, ears, and mouth. Though considering the intense headache that she'd been experiencing before the pain had cut off, that might be a blessing.

All the while, Naru-san was reduced to playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with the sniper. One that despite the blonde's best efforts she was losing. Even with Ruiko's reduced sense of perception, she'd seen her friend shot and forced away from the cannon yielding mech at least three times now.

Ruiko's situation was even more desperate, as the inevitable happened and she finally lost the fight to keep up with the beam's destructive power. Slowly but with growing momentum it began to eat into the dome.

"Hahaha! Look at you scurrying around like rats!" The monster of a woman, sensing victory, jeered. "You think you're humans? Everyone in this City are merely resources for experiments! Lab rats that eat too much! Why not just die alre-"

Her voice was silenced as the oppressive beat of Capacity Down abruptly stopped.

"-Who stopped it? Get it back on! Get it back on now!" The Kihara shrieked like a banshee.

With the disabling noise stopped, Ruiko's calculative power began to pick up again, and she began to turn the tables. With gusto she began to force it back by adding barriers to the dome at an accelerated rate. Even then, she could feel her vision swimming as the strain from earlier started to catch up to her.

 _Gotta hang on. Just a little longer._ Ruiko encouraged herself even as the edges of her sight faded to black.

Just as the brunette collapsed to the side and her dome of protection finally began to completely fall apart, her Sempai jumped in front of her and pushed her hands forward as if pulling against some great weight. In response, the beam of stampeding electrons came to an abrupt stop as if it hit a wall. One seemingly more sturdy than the barriers Ruiko had managed to construct.

"Saten! I've got this," Misaka-Sempai grinned back at her, looking proud. "Take a break and recharge."

"Sempai…"

"Hey! Therestina!" The [Railgun] called out. "We don't want your shitty laser! RAH!"

With a mighty shove, the particle beam curved upward, soaring into the sky.

With her friends in the game, Ruiko could finally focus on healing herself. Calling on her regenerative powers she began to fix the surprisingly extensive injuries that she'd acquired.

 _I've had seven aneurysms. One in my brain no less._ The Level 5 noted idly even as she repaired the damage. _I should be dead. Sometimes I'm really thankful for being a monster._

She was pulled from her self-deprecating thoughts when in her recovering vision, she suddenly saw a large chunk of rubble be teleported right over the particle cannon courtesy of Shirai-san. The broken bit of flyover must have been over a hundred kilograms - close to Shirai-san's upper limit - and combined with a over ten metres drop, the rubble hit the gun with the force like a small bomb and badly damaged it. Reacting quickly, the pilot of the GAMA operating it dropped the gun and raced away. He barely avoided the blast that erupted as the fragile weapon's containment failed and the escaping supercharged electrons caused the whole thing to explode in a powerful detonation.

"Nice work, Kuroko!" Her tomboy senior exclaimed at the impressive sight.

Stiltedly, Ruiko turned her head to see Shirai-san shoot them a thumbs up even as she panted from the effort. The [AIM Sovereign] would have added her own bout of thankful congratulations on the impressive feat but had to hold back when the sense of pain she'd been previously suppressing came back like a tidal wave as her healing finished repairing her battered nervous system. Biting back a scream, all she managed to offer her yearmate was a grateful nod.

"Hey, assholes! Take back your shitty suit!" Her Sempai shouted as she charged forward with an electrified fist cocked back. Her fist slammed into one of the powered suits that Ruiko had impaled early in the fight. Her blow sent the hunk of wrecked metal flying through the air like a massive bullet as she applied the power of her railgun to it.

With the added mass allowing the bullet to travel further before disintegrating from the friction, the range of her Sempai's railgun increased greatly beyond the normal fifty metres limit her arcade tokens afforded her. Knowing it was the target the GAMA that had been toting the cannon hastily raised its arms to form a guard even as its pilot decided that discretion was the better part of valor and ejected. A wise move it turned out as in spite of his last ditch attempt to put up a guard, it didn't save the mech and the railgun easily ripped right through the whole machine before continuing to cut through the air unopposed in the direction of the sea before fizzling out in the far distance.

"Oh! And all your stupid talk about us being lab rats?" Misaka-Sempai demanded furiously, as she stomped her foot and sent sparks flying in the process. "So what?! Even if the higher ups think that, my friends and I? We love this City! It's our home. It's where our family is! So grit your teeth, because my fist is going down your throat!"

Shirai-san teleported next to Ruiko. "Saten-san, we should move to cove-Oh my god!"

It didn't take a genius to figure out what had spooked the teleporter. The Level 5 was lying in a pool of her own blood. Sure, she'd stopped the bleeding but by then she'd already bled enough to threaten the life of any normal person. Though she doubted her friend knew either of those facts.

The teleporter thus understandably began to freak out. "H-Hold on, I'll get a first-aid kit, or your mother, or-uh."

At her fretting, Ruiko gingerly shook her head. "It's okay. It'll take a bit but my healing powers will finishing repairing all the damage soon."

"Why didn't you use that Angel Mode of yours, Saten-san? Why would you risk hurting yourself in this fashion?" Shirai-san asked as she knelt down and cradled her carefully, using her handkerchief to wipe away some blood from her nose.

"Do you think I had the computational power to spare? Where would I be able to find the capacity to activate it?"

"Because you, Saten-san, pull off the impossible all the time."

The compliment gave Ruiko a flutter of happiness and she spared the other girl a genuine smile.

* * *

 _ **I think her song just ended.**_ Kurama grinned viciously.

Naru's grin mirrored his. _Then let's go punch her dance card._

The Number 2 teleported out of cover and dashed at the sniper. The gunman released a shot but she teleported out of the way at the last second. As she reappeared, the blonde teleported away immediately not giving the sniper any chance to get a bead on her. Repeating the feat over and over again, she very quickly closed the distance with her opponent and in under a minute she'd rematerialized right behind the sniper. The powered suited soldier was in the middle of repositioning and was just about to sprint across the roof she was on and jump to an adjacent roof when Naru introduced her to a powerful spin kick, her armored heel slamming into the rifle slung on her back.

The blow snapped the gun in half and sent the soldier flying across the gap between buildings with a grunt. Despite that, the sniper was a professional and reacted quickly. With some expert firing of her suit's thrusters she managed to turn an uncontrolled flight through the air into a controlled but rough landing on the opposite roof. She shook her head and tried to collect herself but sadly for her, Naru didn't give her the chance.

Instead, she teleported right in front of the disoriented sniper and swung one of her corrosive blades in a bid to bisect the female sniper. Yes, it was clearly a woman in the body suit, that curvy body was a dead give away.

 _ **Wait, don't kill her! Your friends are watching.**_ Kurama, ever the rational one, screamed at her urgently.

Already mid-swing, Naru had only a fraction of a second to agree and act on it. Twisting her wrist so abruptly that she heard something pop, she redirected her swing such that instead of gutting the woman, the corrosive chakra blade instead sliced right through the woman's elbow.

All this happened in the same motion as the woman jumped back in a desperate bid to create distance between them. As such, she overbalanced and fell, all while silently grabbing the bleeding stump that was all that remained of her trigger arm. Acting quickly, the soldier pulled out a glowing knife with her good hand and cut even more of her mutilated arm off.

 _She just amputated more of her arm to stave off the corrosive effects of my chakra with a heat blade, cauterizing her wound in the process to boot. All without making a single sound._ Naru noted, impressed by the act. _Damn! This woman is a hardcore pro._

Not that it stopped her from taking out more of her frustration on the woman. The bitch had shot her repeatedly after all, and Naru wanted some payback for that. As such with a light tap with her left heel, she caused the roof beneath the sniper to transform into a series of spikes that skewered the joints in the woman's limbs. Most people would have screamed their throats raw at such treatment, but the only sound that the woman made was a hiss of pain.

The petite girl walked over to the now spread eagled woman. "Gotta say, you are really tough. I applaud your pain threshold."

"Too bad, you just had to pick a fight with us. You might have stood a chance otherwise." Naru commented airily as she admired her handiwork. Giving a satisfied nod, she continued. "Now just sit here quietly - not that you have a choice, mind you - and wait for Anti-Skill to come pick you up okay?"

Her only response was a defeated nod.

"Good talk."

* * *

With Capacity Down offline, the particle cannon wrecked and their sniper neutralized, the rest of the powered suits were nothing but cannon fodder for the Espers. MAR seemed to realize that and was in full retreat, with dozens of the rank and file members abandoning their positions in their trailers and fleeing the battlefield while throwing the automatons at the girls to cover their escape.

One of the machines closed on a barely standing Ruiko and she tried to launch a cryo blast at it, but only managed to conjure a lone snowflake. Thankfully, Shirai-san was there to pick up the slack and easily filled the thing with her nails. The effort however was more than enough to send Ruiko's recovering body crashing back to the ground. Thankfully, before she could suffer the painful meeting with the dirt her Kaa-san caught her.

"Easy, Ruiko. You're still recovering."

"I-I have to help." The [AIM Sovereign] managed in between desperate gasps of air.

"No you don't." Shirai-san reassured. "Just leave this to us and focus on healing."

Disrespecting the tender moment, the Kihara hag cried out in defiance. "Whatever you think, you can't do anything for those lab rats without the First Sample. Which I possess you small minded brats!"

"I want to punch her." Her Kaa-san murmured into her ear and Ruiko couldn't agree more.

Ruiko glared at the final remaining GAMA and taking a deep breath shouted her response. "You're wrong! I know we can save them without that bloody crystal! If not for you, we'd have done it already!"

"Yeah, so get out of our way!" Misaka-Sempai followed up just as Naru-san teleported near them, her armor frame re-assimilating into her body.

"Yeah, what Sempai said you psycho bitch!"

The GAMA took a step back, almost as if afraid.

"I guess we don't really need _you_." Ruiko glowered as she pushed out of her mother's arms and stumbled to stand between her fellow Level 5s.

Apparently deciding her men had the right idea, the Kihara quickly turned her machine around and burned rubber as she desperately retreated from the three middle school girls glaring her down.

"No no no, you don't get to run!" The [Railgun] snarled, sparks flying off her body. She made a fist once more and punched another of the many wrecked powered suits and fired it off with her patented railgun.

Naru-san didn't want to be left out either and called up a orb of that corrosive energy of hers and began to rotate it in her palm.

"[Demon Force]!" The blonde declared as she tossed the sphere right behind the hulking bullet.

 _I'm not really in any shape for anything too fancy,_ Ruiko thought with a pout even as she made the calculations for her own addition to the combo. _Well, this will have to do._

With a thought, strips of Dark Matter materialized in the air all around the three girls even as a beam of green energy was launched from beside Ruiko's head. As it impacted the first of the Dark Matter strips, the beam dispersed thus transforming what had been a single laser into dozens which in turn impacted more of the strips and fractured even more. Each of the beams were weak but they created a maze of still deadly particle beams.

Sempai's railgun hit the fleeing GAMA first and blew off the hulking machine's entire right side sending it tilting to the left, allowing Naru-san's attack to hit it centre mass instead of just clipping it. The mech's remains crumpled under the destructive power of the corrosive energy and literally began to decompose before their eyes. Recognizing that her weapon was done for, the Kihara ejected and flew right into Ruiko's own beams. Conjuring a handful more Dark Matter strips, she redirected her beams to scythe over the escape pod disabling as many of its systems as she could without killing the woman within.

 _Death is too easy for you._ Ruiko thought to herself darkly as the remains of the GAMA exploded and the escape pod hurtled uncontrolled towards the ground for a hard landing.

"And that's what we call [The Trinity Tragedy]!" Naru-san crowed as they all took a moment to admire their handiwork. "Whoo!"

Ruiko shot her an incredulous look while their Sempai bonked her on the head.

"Stop being a moron, Usagi."

"Ow! Hey, stop stifling my artistic creativity!"

The rest of the Trinity ignored her and began to walk off towards the transport trucks that the Kihara had been guarding.

"...You guys suck." The blonde pouted as she sulked and followed behind them.

Her mood reaching its limit after the stressful day, Ruiko turned around and chided her friend. "Can you stop being a spoiled brat for five minutes? We still have to save my siblings and Haruue-san."

Naru-san thankfully looked shamefaced at this and kept her eyes on the ground. "I was only joking around, yesh."

From where she was shorting out the electronic lock on one of the trucks, Misaka-sempai joined the scolding. "Read the mood, Baka-Chibi."

Looking into the now open trailer, they found nothing but some shaken looking scientists. "You all. Stay and wait for Anti-Skill."

They all meekly nodded at the Number 5s order.

"Alright, alright, let's just save the kids." The Number 2 quickly said, attempting to cut her scolding short.

"They're the same age as you, aren't they?" Mikoto noted as she used her powers to disable another door, this time leading to a compartment filled with equipment. "Damn, wrong truck."

"It's the next one." Ruiko confirmed tiredly. "And yes most of my siblings are the same age as Naru-san and I. A few of them are slightly older or younger."

"Pardon me for not being politically correct." Naru-san grumbled, crossing her arms as they moved to the last truck.

"Stop complaining and let's get going."

[MainForce] cursed under her breath, but said no more on the matter.

* * *

In the aftermath of the battle, Mikoto had never felt so satisfied before.

Therestina had been arrested, and was in fact currently unconscious in the back of a prison truck where they'd dumped her after Kuroko had pulled her out of her busted escape pod.

"It was easy. She was sleeping like a baby the whole time." Her roommate had commented at the time with a satisfied smirk.

Yomikawa-san from Anti-Skill was handling the mad woman's delivery to prison personally.

Once they had located the comatose kids, Kiyama-sensei had freed them and moved their comatose bodies to a lab the frog faced doctor had prepared. That took a while so the girls had hunted down Haruue-san and freed her too. Uiharu-san was particularly comforted by the reunion with her roommate, but everyone was relieved to see their new friend safe.

Right now though everyone - Haruue-san included - was at the frog faced doctor's lab, watching as Kiyama-sensei hesitated over pressing the button to start the procedure to treat the kids.

It had already been a good few minutes and still the silly woman was hesitating. Mikoto was about to step in, when Haruue-san stepped up to the plate first. She walked over to the scientist and took hold of her hand.

"It's alright." The telepath assured the scientist, before turning to do the same to a stiff looking Saten and offering the two a smile. "Banri-chan believes in Sensei and Saten-san."

That small, pure smile caused the woman to choke back a sob and Saten's breath to hitch.

The Usagi nudged Saten toward the computer terminal. "Come on, let's see those smiling faces."

The mother and daughter exchanged a look. Determination filled their eyes as they both turned to look at the button. Exchanging a nod, they reached out and pressed it together.

For a moment the room was filled with the sound of a low buzz as the Testament machines that the comatose children were hooked up to did their work. As the devices shut down and the sound faded, everyone waited eagerly to see the results.

It took a few minutes but eventually the prone bodies began to stir, limbs weakened by long disuse began to twitch as their owners slowly regained consciousness.

On shaky legs, Kiyama-sensei moved to Banri-san's bedside with an utterly stoic Saten hovering over her shoulder.

The long comatose girl's eyes fluttered open and immediately smiled at the sight that greeted her. That was surprising enough but it was the first thing that the girl said after years trapped in her own mind that threw Mikoto for a loop.

"Sensei, the bags under your eyes got worse."

A tear rolled down the woman's face. "It's because I've been very busy as of late." She sobbed, grasping the girl's hand tightly, her body shaking.

"Sensei! Your hair got longer!"

"So? It's still Kiyama-sensei. Split ends and all!" A boy laughed merrily as he struggled to sit up.

A girl looked curiously at Saten and pointed at her. "Rui-chan is acting super weird. Like she's a statue."

Banri frowned at her sibling. "That's not nice! Ruiko-chan was really scared for us."

Uiharu-san walked over to Saten, whispering in her ear.

"Saten-san, it's okay to cry you know."

The Number 3 stiffened and turned to look at the rest of the gang in turn. As she turned to her, Mikoto saw how vulnerable Saten really was. She looked like a nervous child, unsure what to do as she begged them for guidance.

Kongou-san offered a supportive smile.

Haruue-san looked away from Banri-san to offer her own tentative smile.

Kurozuma-san tossed her a thumbs up.

"Go ahead." Konori-sempai said even as she smacked Kurozuma-san on the arm.

Kuroko bobbed her head encouragingly.

"No need to hold back now, Saten-chan." Namikaze said earnestly.

Mikoto chuckled, offering her own supportive grin. "What the Chibi said. Let it all out."

[The Robot] moniker was forever broken in Mikoto's mind as Saten Ruiko collapsed to her knees, rivers of tears pouring from her eyes as she sobbed her fragile heart out.

"Geez," One of the boys sighed. "Ruiko-chan is just like we remember, our favorite crybaby."

Kiyama-sensei moved to Saten, pulling her into a tight hug.

Mikoto looked down as she was nudged in the side. The blonde of the group was smirking at her. "We rock."

She held out her fist and the [Railgun] chuckled, pumping her own fist against her Kohai's.

"Damn right."

* * *

A few days later, the whole group was gathered in the rehabilitation centre that her siblings were receiving treatment in.

"Ruiko, I know what this is about. You know that right?" Kaa-san asked with amusement as Ruiko escorted her mother through the centre towards the activity room.

"Oh?" Ruiko replied coyly as she pushed open the door to their destination.

"It's my-"

"Happy Birthday Sensei!" A loud chorus cried out cutting the woman off, leaving her in shock. "We love you!"

This elicited tears from the scientist as she looked at the enthusiastic smiling faces of her precious children. Conjuring a handkerchief, Ruiko reached over to wipe the tears from her Kaa-san's face.

An action that earned her a laugh from her siblings.

"Looks like Ruiko is as much of a Momma's girl as always." Ai-nee commented teasingly.

The rest of her siblings all jumped in on the teasing and Ruiko couldn't hide her responding blush. It didn't stop her from continuing to help her mother compose herself however.

"Okay, okay, that's enough everyone." Kaa-san said at last, offering Ruiko a smile. "Before Ruiko combusts from blushing too hard."

"Kaa-san!"

The entire party burst into a laugh at that but it was a good natured thing and Ruiko just huffed as she stalked off to the refreshment table. Uiharu joined her there as the rest of the partygoers offered her smiles and the celebration got underway.

"Uiharu!" Ruiko declared as her best friend walked up to her.

"Y-Yes!?"

"Skip for me."

Uiharu looked befuddled. "Huh?! Why?"

"I'm not a skipping person but this is clearly a skipping moment."

"Seriously?" Misaka-Sempai told her dryly as she too walked over and filled a cup of punch. "You can't skip?"

"She's protecting her image." Naru-san sang out without looking up from picking out some snacks. "Which I think she can screw today. Live a little Saten-chan."

"I am. Vicariously, through Uiharu." Ruiko gave her best pouting face to her friend. "Please?"

"Mm, you're lucky it's a special occasion." The computer wiz chided her. "Next time, you're skipping with me."

"...I cannot believe we are even talking about this." Shirai-san commented as she put down her half eaten plate of cake. She stared in a deadpan as Uiharu began to skip.

Heck, the flower loving girl even hummed as if she was Disney's Snow White while passing around slices of cake.

"Rui-chan, your friends are funny!" Park-chan called out, while shooting all of them an odd look.

"No way! Misaka-san is really cool." Her otouto, Kenta, called out from his wheelchair. "Hey, Misaka-san, wanna go on a date with me?"

Ruiko chuckled a bit at seeing her sempai blush.

"I-uh, no thanks. I'm not really looking f-for a date." She stammered a bit while Shirai-san nodded.

"Exactly! Onee-sama already has me after all."

Naru-san scoffed. "Please, she's already got a boyfriend. A plain dork at that."

"WHAT!?"

"Usagi!" Misaka-sempai raged as she started to chase the petite blonde.

"Hehe! Catch me if you can!"

Looking on at the happy madness, Ruiko allowed herself a broad smile.

* * *

Naru waited patiently for her guest in a well furnished private salon room. It had a television that had satellite and internet connections as well as a video game system installed next to it, and shelves with various board and card games. Food could be ordered with the touch of a button and there was even a refrigerator stocked with drinks.

Why she was here, you may ask. Well, Shutaura wanted a private word with her and what better place to 'chat' then one of her favorite salons? They offered rooms which could be hired for a amount of certain time for various purposes, such as having fun or parties, away from observation.

With most of Academy City's students living in dorms, under the stern eye of adults, these rental places were very popular to relieve stress.

More importantly to those on the Dark Side of the City, it was a great place to meet in private. Particularly as the information regarding who used the rooms were a closely guarded secret of the establishments, as ensuring the privacy of their clients was their main selling point. They weren't, of course, fully secure, but they were secure enough for most things.

 _ **Yup, like a raunchy make out session.**_ Kurama commented as he thought back to the one time that Naru had run into just such a scene.

 _Oh, grow up you perverted fox. We're on the clock here._

 _ **Like you're any less perverted than I am.**_

 _Shut up!_ Naru shot back angrily. _Or I'll have you muzzled for a week._

The blonde's conversation with her tenant was interrupted when a knock came from the door.

"It's open."

In response, Shutaura walked in looking as stern and no nonsense as usual, giving off that cool beauty vibe. Amazingly, she wasn't in her usual skin tight bodysuit and actually wore civilian clothes. A very plain looking t-shirt and jeans outfit. The blonde figured it was just to blend it, not that it helped the other girl. Not when she couldn't even pull off looking casual. Even without her usual eye grabbing suit, her attitude alone would have made her stand out like a sore thumb.

"Come on in, I ordered some drinks." Naru said as she presented a glass of juice.

"No thank you, but I appreciate the offer." The older girl said in her typically curt fashion.

 _She probably thinks I spiked it or something._ Naru mentally rolled her eyes.

 _ **It would be funny to see if you did. What**_ **would** _ **you do if you roofied her?**_

 _Hmm… I have a few ideas._ Naru replied with a mental smirk.

Sitting down across from the blonde, Shutaura put her small handbag down and folded her hands on the table.

"Will that Kiyama woman and those children cause anymore trouble?" The older girl said, cutting to the heart of the matter. "This is the second time [Multi-Skill] has caused an incident within Academy City, Namikaze."

Naru put her elbow on the table and cupped her chin. "Listen, Shutaura, Saten-chan doesn't mean to get involved in all these shenanigans."

Ignoring Naru, the brunette began listing things she blamed Saten-chan for. "Vast amounts of property damage, civilian endangerment, off the grid experimentation-"

"That's a bullshit accusation and you know it, especially in this City." Naru huffed, leaning back and crossing her arms sternly.

The leader of Black Crow continued. "This is the second strike against her. One more and the Number 3 will be viewed as a threat. I don't care that she's the best information broker in the City. There's a reason why there are growing countermeasures against you Level 5s."

"You make it sound like she's a rogue element." Naru mused, looking intrigued. Shaking her head, the blonde said. "Look, just back off from Saten-chan. Black Crow really doesn't want to make an enemy out of the [Army Slayer] right? Especially when she has backup."

The brunette's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Are you implying that you and [Railgun] support this wild behavior?"

The Number 2 shrugged while offering a mischievous smile.

"Who knows."

* * *

A couple days after the birthday party, Ruiko was at a deli near the rehabilitation centre buying dinner for her family. After days of eating hospital food, her brothers and sisters were tired of it. So when she and Kaa-san had visited this evening, they had convinced her to go out and get them some 'real' food.

Getting dinner ready for twelve people took some time though and Ruiko was forced to wait at one side of the counter while the deli's staff got her order ready. She was boredly scrolling through her social media feeds on her phone as she waited when Accel, of all people, strolled through the door and made a beeline towards her.

Stepping up to her, he eyed the already substantial stack of containers full of food. "Are you feeding an army or gorging on all that yourself?"

"No, just twelve people. My Kaa-san, my siblings and myself." Ruiko explained as she put away her phone. "Hello, by the way, Accel."

"You have a huge ass family, you know that?" The Number 1 commented bemusedly.

"Not going to dispute that." Ruiko agreed with a nod. "I'm surprised to see you here."

Accel offered her a shrug. "I'm in the area for an _appointment_ , saw you were around and pit stopped to drop a hello."

 _An appointment? Didn't he say the same thing the last time I ran into him after the Level Upper Incident?_

"I see." Ruiko acknowledged with a nod, not letting her raising suspicion show. "So what do you want to talk about about?"

"You looking stupidly happy? The reunion that good?" The pseudo-albino offered, sounding almost sincere but unable to completely hide his disdain.

 _No surprise there._ Ruiko mused. _He never did understand why others cared so much about family._

"Yes, it was. I'm practically over the moon." Ruiko nonetheless replied with a broad smile, letting her happiness show.

Accel's eyes widened in surprise at her openness, but he quickly recovered and changed the subject.

"Yeah, well, you better not lose sight of the true goal."

"True goal?" Ruiko asked in confusion. "What are you talking about."

"Level 6, you idiot!" Accel replied tauntingly as he turned to walk off.

 _He mentioned that last time too._ Ruiko noted as she recalled their last conversation. _What's with his sudden obsession with Level 6?_

Setting aside her doubts, she offered her friend a farewell. "Bye, Accel."

"Bye, Ruiko." The boy shot back with a wave as he stepped out of the shop.

Watching him leave, Ruiko couldn't help but feel uneasy at whatever he was undoubtedly caught up in.

 _I think it's time to find out what in the world he's up to._ Ruiko decided as her friend disappeared down a side alley further down the street.

* * *

 **Omake: First Meetings**

It was the first day that Ruiko was joining this new group of Child Errors that had been assigned to be the participants in the AIM Diffusion Field Control Experiment. She honestly didn't know what the scientists behind the experiment wanted with her and the other Child Errors. There were plenty of other people in the City, including the impressive Level 4s and even more crazy powerful Level 5s to pick. Much less a bunch of kids from multiple facilities instead of just tapping an existing group. Maybe they were looking for people based on something, but if they were then Ruiko didn't know what it was.

Not that she'd complain though, getting selected to be part of this experiment had managed to get her out of her previous facility where her status as a Level 0 had led to her being bullied. Just like she had been in all the previous Child Error care facilities that she'd been assigned to as well.

She understood. She really did. Child Errors were among the lowest people in Academy City's hierarchy and thus often felt powerless. Ruiko could say that from experience. So they tended to lash out at those even weaker than they were, even fellow Child Errors. Because of this, ability Levels meant even more to them than to the typical esper. Which to a Level 0 Child Error like Ruiko, meant she was the lowest of the low.

Which was why even though she was pleased to be part of this experiment, she was nevertheless extremely nervous about meeting the new group of fellow Child Errors.

 _What if they reject me like all the others?_ Ruiko worried as she clung tightly to the side of the woman who was escorting her to the room where she was to meet the other children. _What if they bully me too?_

As Ruiko was pushed gently into the room, she found ten other children seated in a circle fidgeting impatiently and being watched over by a couple of childcare robots.

 _Oh no! I'm late and made them wait._ The young girl noted with a gasp as she spotted the lone empty seat among the circle of chairs. _Now they'll hate me for sure!_

Terrified at the thought, Ruiko began sniffling as she was reluctantly guided to the empty seat. This didn't escape the notice of the caregiver that had led her in however, and the woman gave the girl's shoulder a reassuring squeeze even as she walked past her into the centre of the circle and began to address the group.

"Hello everyone-"

The woman continued with her introduction, but by this point Ruiko's anxiety had gotten so bad that she was actively tearing up even as she fought against it. The effort was taking so much out of her that the girl didn't hear a word the woman said.

What finally drew Ruiko out of her crying was her neighbor unexpectedly pulling her into a hug.

"There, there. I know how scary new things can be but there's no need to cry." The slightly older looking girl said as she patted Ruiko's head comfortingly. "My name is Shinoda Ai, what's yours?"

The overwrought girl tried to reply but only managed a sob. Ai-san didn't seem offended though, instead offering her an encouraging smile.

"Hey, while we wait for our new friend to calm down, why don't we introduce ourselves too?" A girl wearing a prominent headband said to the group. "My name's Edasaki Banri, by the way. Call me Banri-chan. I'm nine."

"Nice to meet everyone," another girl said in response. "My name is Fujii Maki and I'm the same age as Banri-chan."

Another girl put her hand up next to capture everyone's attention before shyly introducing herself. "I'm Park Hye-kyo from Korea and I'm eight years old."

Everyone were a little surprised at that. Sure, Academy City had residents from all around the world but non-Japanese tended to be few and far between. Park-chan did look different from the rest of the group, but it was subtle and in a city where genetic engineering was not out of the question, her subtly different features hadn't managed to clue the others in as to her origins.

The younger girl wilted a little at the group's surprise. Still recovering from her own fit of crying, Ruiko could empathise. Thankfully, another girl stepped in to draw everyone's attention away from Park-chan.

"Hi everyone!" A older girl spoke up with a challenging look on her face. "My name's Damdin Khulan. Like Park-chan, I'm not Japanese. I'm Mongolian. Khulan is my given name. Damdin isn't my surname though, it's a name to tell people who my dead dad and grandad are. Some kinda cultural thing. Oh, and I'm nine like Banri-chan and Fujii-san."

"Call me Maki." Fujii-san, no Maki, cut in.

"Will do." Khulan-san replied confidently.

 _I wish I had her confidence._

"Since we foreigners seem to all be outing ourselves, I guess I'll have a go too." A cheerful boy chimed in jokingly. "I'm Wu Shengxi, originally from Beijing, China. Like Ai-chan I'm ten."

"Don't call me Ai-chan, Wu-kun." Shinoda-san shot back.

"Why not _Ai-chan_ , after all we've known each other since we were four!"

Shinoda-san just shot the boy a disapproving look. "And that's why you should know I don't like to be called "chan"."

"How do you two know each other from before?" A spiky haired boy asked. "Oh, I'm Izumi Kenta by the way."

"We've been housed at the same facility since we were four." Wu-san explained.

"Really? Fascinating, maybe you could tell us more about yourselves? It might help me figure out what the selection criteria for our group is."

"Woah there, Izumi-san. Maybe let the rest of us introduce ourselves first?" A boy with a bandana over his hair cut in, earning nods from everyone.

"Right, sorry Hoga-san. I got carried away."

Satisfied, the bandana wearing boy nodded before launching into his introduction. "The name's Hoga Ryo, nine years old, and Izumi-san is eight." He shot the other boy a disapproving look for omitting the last bit in his own introduction. "And I'm the greatest martial artist in Academy City!" The boy boasted, throwing a few punches.

"He watches too many Kung-Fu movies."

"Oi!"

The boy and his accuser started to bicker over the topic, getting a few of the others to giggle at their antics.

"How do you even know that?"

"Simple Wu-san, he talked my ear off about it on the car ride over. Apparently our previous facilities were pretty close by to each other and the adults thought it was a good idea to carpool."

"Lousy penny pinchers. Always trying to cut corners when it comes to us Child Errors." A boy in a pinstriped suit, of all things, said angrily, before taking a deep breath and curtly giving his introduction. "Harada Akihiko, nine."

With almost everyone introduced by this point, the whole group turned to the last boy. He just offered everyone a sleepy smile. "Is it my turn already? Well, I'm nine and my name is Sato Takeshi." With a yawn, Sato-kun seemingly dozed off.

Suddenly, everyone's eyes were on Ruiko. The girl's heart skipped a beat at all the sudden attention but she soldiered on and with only minimal teary stuttering she managed to say, "I-I'm Saten Ruiko, i-it's nice to meet all of you."

* * *

It was a week later, and Ruiko and her friends were finally getting introduced to their teacher and primary guardian. Up till now, they had been looked after by temporary caregivers, uncaring scientists and childcare robots. They weren't _bad_. They just weren't very good. None of them really seemed to care about them much and treated looking after them like it was a job and nothing more.

So everyone was holding out hope that whoever the new woman was would be better.

Because of this, Ruiko looked on worriedly as Kenta-kun and Ryo-san set up the prank to 'greet' their new guardian.

"Is letting them do that a good idea?" Ruiko asked Ai-nee nervously.

The older girl just shrugged. "Don't worry about it, Ruiko. It's harmless. Besides, if whoever it is can't handle this then there's no way she'd be able to keep the boys in line."

"I know, but…"

"Just relax, will you?" Khulan-chan reassured in her usual confident way. "Everything will be fi-"

The Mongolian was cut off as the door to the classroom was opened and the boys' prank played out flawlessly. The blackboard duster that they had deliberately filled up with chalk dust and placed over the door falling onto a woman in a skirt and blouse as she tried to step in and coating her from head to toe in dust.

For a moment, everyone just stared at the scene in shock. No one, not even the boys had honestly thought the prank would work. Now that it had, they had no idea what to do.

"Oh! It looks like I'm dirty." The woman stated the obvious in a lazy way. "I guess I should change."

With that she reached to unzip her skirt. In response the whole class exploded into pandemonium as most of the girls rushed to stop her while the boys looked on flabbergasted.

"What a weirdo." Park-chan whispered, with a shake of her head as she looked on at the chaos.

Ruiko agreed that the woman was weird. But in her opinion that was a good thing! If nothing else, it made her different from all the interchangeable guardians she'd had before now.

 _This is the best place ever!_ Ruiko thought to herself as Ai-nee and Khulan-chan worked together to scold their sensei and teach her about public decency. _I can't wait to see what crazy things happen next._

* * *

 **And with that, season one of Railgun is finished! Phew, man that was a long arc end huh guys? Thanks to the team of Nameless and Ax!**

 **Nameless: I hope you guys liked how we chose to challenge our MCs in this fight. We made it so that their boasts about Capacity Down's effects on them were a little hollow. Not completely so, but just enough to mean that their abilities were hampered. Plus we had MAR come equipped with counters for both of them. Technological ones. This was something that I think is a minor theme in the Toaruverse, that being that the City is always trying (and to various degrees succeeding) to come up with ways to surpass and/or counter supernatural powers. Just look at the FIVE_Overs.**

 **As you can see, there isn't just a anti-chakra blade, but bullets as well. Giving Naru some struggle is never a bad thing guys, but seeing her overcome it? That's pretty good. Also hope you enjoyed the Jäger Frame, think a mix of Gundam Exia and Psycho Red from Power Rangers. Blades for days folks, blades for days. Jäger is actually German for Hunter. So once again, we're going through our German stint.**

 **Nameless: Talking about German. This week's chapter title translates to Paradise Found. Hope you guys find it as fitting as we did. Once more, I'd like to thank Google for being our translator. XP**

 **Of course we had Mikoto save the day, because we can't let our MCs take away that sparkplug's spotlight. Kuroko also aided with the takedown of the particle cannon, good job! And of course Uiharu's take down of CD.**

 **Nameless: It was a total team effort. As was fitting. Oh, one last thing before I sign off. That long omake at the end? That was the result of us realising that it would be unrealistic for Ruiko to call her siblings by anything but their names, so we came up with an introduction scene. It turned out quite nicely in my opinion, as it gave some insight into the family dynamics in the Kiyama brood and also why Ruiko's siblings see her as a momma's girl and crybaby.**

 **Now smash that review button and tell us what you loved! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Eleven: Crouching Loli, Hidden Dragon**

 **Beta:**

* * *

Naru hung back as she and the rest of her friends followed Misaka-sempai's lead as she led them towards their destination. The group had recently decided that they should try out some new activities, and that everyone should get a chance to decide what they did. Today, that honour had gone to the [Railgun].

"Really Onee-sama?" Shirai-chan bemoaned as she shook her head, "You couldn't have selected somewhere with more… elegance."

"What? Come on! Arcades are fun!" Her sempai puffed up her cheeks, "Besides, we can't hang out in the _Garden_ everyday."

"Not that I would mind." Uiharu-chan muttered, a glazed look in her eyes.

 _No surprise there._ Naru mused with a roll of her eyes. _Since it seems like going to Pasticceria Manicagni is all you ever suggest. Though Shirai-san is guilty of wanting to go shopping there a little too much too._

"You can have cake any time, Uiharu." Saten-chan reminded her.

"Still! The atmosphere~!"

Naru giggled at that, but did agree with Uiharu-chan to some degree. _The atmosphere in the Garden sure is nice._

"Still, leave it to sempai to pick something simple. Not that it's a bad thing."

"...Did you just call me simple?" [The Railgun] asked while leveling a glare at the blonde.

"Me? Never." Naru flashed an innocent smile.

"Whatever," Misaka-sempai huffed, as they walked into the arcade.

"Let's go have some fun!" The oldest girl said as she pumped her fist in the air.

"Whoo." Shirai-chan cheered enthusiastically as she followed her Onee-sama. The reactions from the others were mixed. Saten-chan and Uiharu-chan drifted off together into the game center clearly with something in mind. Naru meanwhile just shrugged and decided to trail after the others a bit.

 _Haven't been in one of these in a while. Wonder what's fun?_

 _ **Probably nothing as fun as what we did the last time we were in one.**_ Naru's tenant opined.

 _Yeah, well, we can't always have an assasination to carry out._ Naru pointed out reasonably. _So any suggestions on who we should check on first?_

 _ **Go with robot girl-**_ The fox began only to be interrupted.

 _Don't call her that._ The Number 2 warned.

 _ **Fine.**_ Kurama sighed. _ **Follow the Saten girl. She's pissed for some reason, maybe we can find out why.**_

Naru just shrugged, it was as good a suggestion as any.

Taking a quick survey of the arcade, the blonde found Saten-chan busy playing with the VR batting cage.

Walking over to get a closer look, Naru quickly noticed that her friend was racking up a truly impressive score. With every swing of the bat, a synthesized cracking sound rang out as the words **"Home Run!"** streaked across the screen.

Her performance was so good in fact that she was pretty close to beating the machine's high score.

"Come on, Saten-chan, just twenty more and you'll break the record!" Naru cheered her on, joining the crowd that had gathered to watch the seemingly impossible repeated home runs.

Her fellow Level 5 didn't notice any of it. She seemed to be in her own little world, utterly ignoring the cacophony of cheers from the crowd. Her lips moving as she spoke to herself under her breath with each swing.

Curious, Naru enhanced her hearing with a bit of chakra. With her now superhuman hearing, she realized that her friend was repeating the phrase "Bakaccel" over and over again like a mantra.

 _Geez, what is she? His girlfriend all of a sudden?_ Naru couldn't help but think.

Naru was about to step forward and ask her classmate what the psycho had done to piss her off when she was tapped on the shoulder. Turning around, she was met with a worried looking Uiharu-chan.

"We should leave her alone for now. She's venting."

There was another electronic crack and Naru looked back to see another **"Home Run!"** flash across the screen.

"I can see that."

"L-Let's go play something else in the meantime. Uh," Uiharu-chan looked around before spotting something that caused her face to light up, "Yay!"

The flower-crown wearing girl tugged Naru along, which the amused blonde allowed, until they reached a Street Fighter game.

"You don't want to play the VR fighting game instead? What was it?" Naru took a minute to recall the name of the game that she'd read about recently. "Crosswalk Melee? It's supposed to be very good."

 _Of course it is. It was based on real-life combat simulators used on the Dark Side after all._

Uiharu didn't share that opinion though, instead she uncharacteristically scoffed, "Please, vintage is best with games like this. You can appreciate the elegance of these fine machines of battle best in their original form."

"...Okay." Naru was stunned at how poetic that sounded and the passion with which Uiharu-chan spoke.

Sitting down, Uiharu cracked her knuckles, only to yelp. "Ow, ow, that was not as cool as I thought it would be."

Naru covered her mouth to stifle her giggles. Uiharu-chan could just be too adorable.

"Now, where are my victims?" The Level 1 said with an edge in her voice.

"Uh-huh." Naru nodded, confused by how the girl was acting.

It was ten minutes later and a crowd had gathered around them as Uiharu-chan defeated yet another opponent.

 _Wow! She's insanely good. Like a gaming monster._ Naru noted in surprise. _That's the tenth person in a row so far._

"How is she-?" Shirai-chan said as she walked over, only to freeze as she looked at Uiharu-chan's score.

"Next challenger!" Uiharu-chan cried out as the next poor schmuck sat down to face the titan.

"I have never seen her like this!" The Teleporter said as she gaped at her partner.

"I guess even Uiharu-chan has her ruthless side." Naru pointed out.

"And that's what worries me. She was the normal one."

Naru just quirked a brow at that, "Hello? Genius hacker?"

"Normal to an extent." The auburn haired girl huffed.

"Ah! This is just like the old days." Uiharu-chan declared with a smile as she finished off her latest challenger. "Next!"

"Why does it sound like she's got some kind of dark history in the gaming circuit?"

"I don't want to know." Shirai-chan rubbed her eyes.

"Suit yourself." Naru said with a shrug. _I'm honestly curious. Gotta do some digging when I get the chance._

 _ **Not just going to ask her best friend?**_

 _Where's the fun in that?_ Naru thought back to the fox along with a mental smirk.

"Can none give me a proper challenge?" Uiharu-chan demanded of the crowd, who began to edge away from her.

"This is getting too weird for me." Shirai-chan said as she too slowly backed away. "I think I'll go check on Onee-sama instead."

"Yeah, let's give her some space. Best not sully her Highness with our presence."

The two wandered off as Uiharu-chan started to cackle like some cliched anime villain.

It took some searching, but they eventually found their sempai concentrating intently on a crane game in a forgotten corner of the arcade reserved for the more casual games. Her fingers slowly inched the controller as the older girl's eyes locked onto one thing.

A Gekota plush.

"I will never understand her frog fetish."

"I continue to scold her for her childish tastes, but she never listens." Shirai-chan sighed and skipped over, "Onee-sama~! Allow Kuroko to assist you!"

Shirai-chan's call was poorly timed and distracted her roommate at precisely the wrong moment. As a result, the older girl's hands slipped on the controls thus causing the crane to swing erratically and loosening it's tentative grip on the plush which promptly slipped from the claw's hold.

"No! My Gekota!" Misaka-sempai screamed in horror and turned a fierce gaze upon the perpetrator. "Kur-o-ko…"

"Eep!" The Teleporter squeaked in fear.

"Die!" [The Railgun] shouted and shocked her roommate.

"Gah…" Was the only noise the Judgement member could make as she laid face first on the ground, twitching.

Naru looked away as Shirai-chan got her just desserts. As much as she enjoyed her research, electrocution porn wasn't her thing. Instead, she turned back towards Uiharu-chan who was loudly chewing out her latest opponent for his sloppy play style even as she demolished him.

"Yesh, they're all going nuts today." Naru couldn't help but note with a shake of her head. She was just about to turn back towards Misaka-sempai and tell her to stop letting out her inner sadist when something caught her eye.

There sitting pleasantly on a shelf behind the prize redemption counter was a giant top hat wearing penguin plush.

 _...Mine, mine, mine, mine, must have!_

 _ **Great, another for the collection.**_ Kurama groaned.

 _It's cute and you know it._

 _ **The hat is tacky.**_

Naru ignored him, the stupid fox knew nothing about fashion for animals. Why else would he run around butt naked.

Determined, the blonde quickly turned to address Shirai-chan and Misaka-sempai.

"Girls, we need to pool our tickets."

"Why?" Shirai-chan asked curiously. The girl still looked a little frazzled from the repeated shocks her roommate had subjected her to, but she seemed to have shaken the effects off quickly enough. Though considering her experience in that regard, that was no surprise.

"One, it has a top hat. Two, it's adorable and I want it!" The blonde said, looking giddy.

"That's three things, Namikaze-san."

"Semantics."

Misaka-sempai looked at the prize and squinted her eyes.

"Hm, it is cute. Sure, Why not?"

"Let's go get the others!"

Both Saten-chan and Uiharu-chan were reluctant to leave their games, but Naru wasn't taking no for an answer.

"Girls, we have an objective." Naru declared to them all.

"And why do we need to pool all our tickets just for you?" Saten-chan asked impatiently, clearly she wanted to go back to her game.

"Because we'll get enough tickets to get all of us one?" The blonde suggested

Saten-chan looked back at the plush and the sticker pasted on it that indicated the number of tickets needed to redeem it. "That would require hours of game time. Maybe days."

"It's called a challenge. I'm game, whose game?" Naru said while raising her hand.

Uiharu-chan joined her crusade as she too raised her hand.

"I too demand one for my conquests today!"

Misaka-sempai spared Uiharu-chan an odd look.

"If Uiharu wants one." Saten-chan agreed with a reluctant sigh.

"All hail!"

"I am so confused." [The Railgun] surmised.

Ignoring their sempai, Saten-chan turned to Uiharu-chan with a frown. "Uiharu, do we need to have a talk about your Street Fighter addiction again?"

"It's only an addiction if I do it everyday."

"The only reason you don't is because I literally atomised all your copies of the games and threatened to do the same to any replacements you bought."

Uiharu-chan had a crestfallen look at the reminder, "Truly a dark day in history."

"You seriously did that?" A shocked Shirai-chan asked.

"Don't judge Shirai-chan," Naru piped up. "At least they aren't like you and Sempai, what with your not-so-secret sadomasochist antics."

Their sempai stammered at this while Shirai-chan looked away with a flush, covering her cheeks.

"It's not that I mind it, but she just does it in public so much. It should be in private."

"Kuroko!"

"Enough talk!" Uiharu-chan interrupted the conservation in a loud voice. "Time to win that penguin!"

Naru pumped her fist, "All hail."

"All hail!"

"What is going on?!"

Saten-chan just groaned and walked off towards the batting cages. "Trust me, sempai, just roll with it. It's safer for your sanity and this is _me_ talking."

Shirai-chan and sempai just exchanged confused looks, but Naru paid them no mind.

"Let's get those tickets!"

* * *

Naru raised a padded mallet in the air.

"It is time for your extinction." She said sternly as the game she had chosen to take on started.

" _Whack them moles!"_ The machine announced as the first of the moles popped out of its hole.

"Die!" The blonde cried as she swung the hammer down and sent the first of the mechanical caricatures of a mole back into it's hole. Another two popped up to replace it almost immediately, only to meet the same fate.

Naru showed none of the moles any mercy. As each one popped up, they were swiftly taken down by a vicious strike from the Level 5. In a matter of minutes, things had gotten to the point that Naru was summoning her chakra to enhance both her senses and speed to keep up with the game.

"And I thought the day couldn't get any weirder." Naru heard Shirai-chan say. That couldn't be right though, hadn't she and sempai wandered off to try a shooting game.

"Yeah," Misaka-sempai agreed, sounding a little uneasy. "I didn't think that game could get this intense."

"That's because it's adapting to your friend's skill level. It's designed to make it more challenging for Espers." An unfamiliar male voice explained. "The moles pop up faster as your score gets higher."

Naru was curious who her friends were talking to, one of the arcade's employers maybe, but she had no time to satisfy her inquisitiveness at the moment. The game had reached such an intense stage that she needed her full focus just to keep up. In fact, the moles were popping up so quickly now that even with her chakra enhanced senses, she was unable to react in time. If she waited for them to pop up before acting, they'd retreat back into their holes while she was still in mid-swing. Instead, the blonde was relying on feeling the shift in the airflow to sense which mole would pop up ahead of time so as to allow her to smash them on their way up.

Through the use of this little trick her score continued to climb, already breaking the 99,999 threshold.

 _ **Come on, murder more!**_ Kurama cheered her on in his own special way.

Everything was a blur, Naru's arms, the popping moles, her ever increasing score.

"She really wants that penguin." Misaka-sempai noted with astonishment in her voice.

"T-That shouldn't be happening, she should be losing by this stage!" The unfamiliar voice gaped.

"Was it designed for Level 5s?" Shirai-chan asked him.

"L-L-Level 5? She's-!? Oh no…Oh no!" He shouted in horror.

And with good reason as the machine began to shudder and release smoke just trying to keep up with Naru. The blonde barely noticed, the moles were still coming!

"Wait!" The male voice called out desperately. "The machine's-!"

"Bye bye!" Naru screamed, drowning out the man's voice, as she smashed the lone mole that didn't return to its home. As if a nail to a coffin, the mole shot down and the machine split in half.

 _ **Insult to injury, nice.**_

"-already died." The man finished despondently.

"...Oops." Naru muttered weakly as she looked down at the shattered remains of the whack-a-mole machine. It's parts and a sea of reward tickets were strewn all over the floor, with its scoreboard still flashing her score: 999,999,999.

"Consider those tickets invalid, young lady." The man, who was in fact an employee of the arcade, told her sternly as he came over to inspect the scene. "And you're paying damages for that machine."

"Aw," Naru pouted, looking down at the sea of tickets that reached her ankles.

 _Stupid faulty machine!_ Naru whined mentally, even as she put on the best contrite mask she could manage.

* * *

Naru's face was flat against the table, groaning as the group of friends waited for their ordered beverages. Shortly after her rather _interesting_ turn at playing whack-a-mole, the crew had left the arcade. Seeing that it was still only late afternoon, they had decided to fall back on their old stand-by and headed over to Joseph's Coffee and Restaurant for something to drink and to cool off.

"What kind of cheap material do they use nowadays?" The blonde bemoaned, saddened by her failure to get her hands on the dapper penguin plush.

And it didn't help that Uiharu-chan was hugging her very own dapper penguin.

"Don't you dare complain." Misaka-sempai said accusingly, while shooting her a glare. "It was _you_ who got us kicked out of the arcade. It was my favourite one too!"

"Onee-sama," Shirai-chan looked at their sempai dryly, "do you have room to talk about that? Have you not broken your fair share of arcade machines?"

[The Railgun] flustered, "By accident! Chibi here went full throttle!"

Naru didn't dispute that, she had gone a little overboard. That said, she wasn't going to let her sempai make her out to be some villain for it.

"I already said I'd pay for all the damages, didn't I?"

"That's not the point!"

"Calm down, Onee-sama. It's not that big of a deal." Shirai-chan reassured their volatile upperclassman. "It's not like they banned us permanently. They just asked us to leave for today."

"Hmph!" Misaka-sempai childishly huffed and continued to fume.

The Teleporter sighed at her crush's immature display, and continued trying to calm her down. "Besides, like I said earlier, you're done much the same in the past. Plus, more besides. Do I need to remind you of all those arcade tokens you regularly steal to use as the ammo for your railgun?"

Defeated, but unwilling to admit as such, the older girl blushed and looked away.

Turning away from the two roommates, Naru lifted her head up and focused her attention on the flower-crown loving girl, "Uiharu-chan, can I hug it sometimes when you aren't?"

"Hm, I may bring it to the office to cuddle during breaks." Uiharu-chan smiled as she squeezed her new conquest.

Naru let out a whimper at the Level 1. _Looks like Uiharu-chan's one is out of the question._

"Saten-chan, you'd share right?" The blonde pleaded.

Her fellow Level 5 hugged her own prize, something akin to a smirk on her face.

"I think I'll give it to my siblings." The mean Number 3 said, "I'm sure one of them will like it. Maybe Park-chan?"

Naru held her tongue at that. After hearing that declaration, the blonde knew the plush was lost to her forever.

It was a deep loss, one that would haunt her forever. Turning away, she let a few tears escape her eyes.

 _ **Oi! Don't be so melodramatic!**_ Kurama chided. _**It's just a dumb toy.**_

 _It's the principle of the matter!_

Naru would have continued defending herself against her demonic tenant's overly harsh critique but was distracted when something soft bumped her in the head. It was the penguin plush. Turning to Saten-chan, she saw her fellow Level 5 smirking at her while gesturing encouragingly at the fallen toy.

"Huh?" Naru blinked as she picked up the large and soft toy.

"I was just teasing you! Hehe, you're so easy!" The brunette said as she broke into a fit of wooden giggles.

It was so unexpected that all the other girls were caught off guard too. All of them looked at [Multi-Skill] with varying degrees of surprise. They all smiled though as they saw their friend joke around like a normal girl, a sure sign of her recovery from being [The Robot].

"I-" Naru didn't know what to say as she held the plush close, cuddling it. After a moment, she muttered, "Thank you."

"Aw, she's embarrassed." Their sempai teased, making Naru's cheeks burn red.

"I-I was just surprised! Baka-Sempai!"

"Hm, so even Namikaze-san has a tsundere side." Shirai-chan commented, making Naru's blush more luminous even as her eyes widened.

"I am not a tsundere!"

Naru was getting riled up when Uiharu-chan suddenly waved the flipper of her plush to catch Naru's eye and winked.

 _What?_

"Saten-san!" The Level 1 cried out, sounding shocked and happy. "I'm so glad to see you so carefree today."

Seemingly caught off guard by the sudden change in the topic, the Number 3 blinked in confusion.

"Um. Yeah?"

Uiharu then proceeded to gush over her best friend's improving ability to behave like a normal person. Her enthusiasm easily sucked in the other two girls too and soon all three of them were happily congratulating the stoic Level 5 on her progress.

Offering her flower loving friend a thankful smile, Naru just leaned back and enjoyed the show as it were. She was content to just hold the newest addition to her collection, but that idea was dashed when an electronic jingle came from her pocket. Pulling out her phone, all her good nature fled as she saw who the call was from.

"I've gotta take this." The blonde said as she left the plush in her seat and walked out of earshot to answer the call.

"Hello, what do you need?"

" _I have a new mission for you. Go to District 11. I'll send you the exact coordinates shortly. You'll be meeting up with the Black Crow Unit."_ Aleister instructed her.

 _A collab with Shutaura huh?_

"Alright, I'll head out right away. Bye." The blonde said as she ended the call.

"Who was that?" Misaka-sempai asked curiously.

"My boss." Naru said and patted her plush, "Could one of you hold on to this for me? I'll pick it up later."

The others all looked at her with looks of unease. Understandably so, they all knew her well enough by now to have an idea of what a call from her boss likely meant.

Saten-chan however just gave her an encouraging nod. Good to know that at least one of her friends was confident in her abilities.

"It was a call from the General Superintendent. So she has to go."

" _I'll cover for you. Go."_ A barely there whisper ghosted into Naru's ear.

 _Damn, sonic manipulation too?_ Naru mused in exasperation as she eyed the Number 3 and gave a nod in reply. _Do you need to show off that you have practically every Esper power catalogued?_

"I'll hold onto it for you," Misaka-sempai told her, pulling the plush close to her.

"Thanks sempai, you can hug him as much as you want. You have my blessing."

"L-Like I would. Psh." Their sempai shot back dismissively.

 _She's so going to cuddle it._ Naru giggled and departed from the restaurant.

It was never a dull moment in Academy City.

* * *

In between teleports to her rendezvous point, Naru read through the briefing packet that had been sent to her phone shortly after she'd accepted the mission. Apparently, some crucial component - the exact nature of which was a secret that she was not privy to - for Endymion, the City's experimental space elevator, had been stolen whilst it was en route from the warehouse where it had been stored in District 11 to the STUDY spaceport in District 23 where the contractor was to launch it into orbit and install it as part of the construction process.

 _How could security be so lacking for such an item? I don't care if the enemy was using magic. They should have been more prepared._

 _ **Not all of them can be a magician killer like you.**_

 _Not the point, Kurama!_

As she arrived at the crime scene, she was unsurprised to find that the Black Crow Unit was already there, scouring the area for clues. The scene consisted of a wrecked semi-trailer truck and a patch of busted up road in between two rows of nondescript warehouses.

"Crow 3, check behind that building. Crow 9, I want statements from any workers close to the scene. Everyone else triple check the area. Crow 7, be sure to _make sure_ the witnesses understand that everything they saw were the work of Espers." Shutaura barked her orders, looking like the fierce leader she was.

"Yes Crow 1!"

"As efficient as usual." Naru couldn't help but comment as she walked up to the Black Crow Unit leader, "Though I've got to ask, you sure about blaming magic on Esper powers. Is that really a good idea?"

"It's worked before and it will work now." Shutaura dismissed as she turned to glance at the blonde, "It's either that or kill them, like back in the old days."

 _ **I would have loved it if we were in the old days, sounds more fun.**_

Something amidst the wreckage of the semi-trailer truck caught Shutaura's eye and she walked over to check it out.

Naru eyed the older girl as she walked, the way her hips swayed catching her eye and causing her mouth to feel parched.

 _Did she get a new bodysuit? 'Cause she's looking a lot more sexy than the last time I saw her in one._

 _ **Preaching to the choir here.**_ The fox said with a decidedly lecherous tone to his voice.

 _Maybe I should get one too._

Naru's thoughts were derailed when Shutaura reached whatever had caught her eye, a piece of the wreckage with a strange glow to it, and bent down to get a better look.

Naru swallowed, _Wow, that thing really flatters her rear._

 _ **Yeah...**_

Getting herself under control, Naru ignored Kurama and did her best to be a professional. Since she was on the job and all that.

"Can I help?"

"No, my Unit has things under control." The older girl replied, even as she waved over one of the forensic technicians attached to her unit to examine what she'd spotted. "This is an attack targeting Lady Tangleroad's interests and as such is in our purview. The only reason why you're even here is because the Superintendent insisted. We don't need your help so just stay out of our way."

The blonde felt put out by this, and just a little bit hurt.

"By the way, I saw you looking." Shutaura told the blonde, who blushed heatedly at being caught leering. "Could you stop playing around and be serious?"

"Right. Sorry." Naru awkwardly apologized. "So, uh, what are we looking for? I didn't have time to go through all the intel while on my way here."

"It's a special material-"

"For Endymion, I know. Any idea what it is?"

"No, that's classified and beyond our pay grades. All we know is that it's in a special sealed crate that won't open without the proper procedures and codes. We are to recover it before the thieves either extract it from the City or figure out a way to open the crate."

"Want to bet on what it is?"

"What? No."

"Come on," Naru grinned, "I know you're curious since Lady Ladylee is all mysterious and stuff. How about this? If you lose, you have to forfeit one article of clothing."

Shutaura's usually cool visage heated up and she shot the blonde an outraged glare.

"Hey, it's okay. Not like I'm going to make this unfair. I'll put a pair of panties up for collateral. Does that make you feel better?"

"It doesn't! How can you talk about this so casually?!" Shutaura nearly shouted, but quickly composed herself and glared at Naru, "Honestly, must you play the fool all of the time? Try and take this seriously."

"You know, you're such a stick in the mud for an exhibitionist."

 _I thought this is what friends do, mess around with each other. Friendship and panties._

Shutaura stood stock still at this, but soon glared furiously at the blonde with a new blazing blush.

"I am not an exhibitionist!"

A member of the Crows coughed into his hand, he looked new in Naru's eyes.

"Isn't it an open secret that the Captain walks around in her home practically nude?" He whispered to another member.

Shutaura must have heard him because she turned her glare towards the hapless man.

His comrades quickly silenced him so he wouldn't lose his head.

The older girl might have done more to her cheeky subordinate but the technician examining the wreckage they were standing over caught both her and Naru's attention when he pulled out a wand with a frown.

"Magic?" Naru asked, unsurprised by this turn of events. Considering Ladylee's links to the Magic Side, it was a high possibility from the get go that this attack against her pet project was an attempt to get at her by one of her old enemies.

"Looks like." Shutaura nodded with a peeved sigh, obviously not liking the news.

"Any clue on what type?" The young commander addressed her subordinate.

"Sorry Captain," the technician said with a apologetic shake of his head. "The best I can tell from the residue is that it's high level magic. Not much more than that. At least not without a detailed analysis back in the lab."

"A sha-"

"How high level?" Naru cut in.

The technician shrugged. "My guess? Something at the level of about a Saint. Possibly high tier at that. My bet is on the latter."

"Just my luck." The blonde cursed under her breath. The Saints were the Magic Side's equivalent to Level 5 Espers, so to face one of the most powerful magicians in the world? Someone who could be more powerful than she was? That was a daunting prospect.

"Captain!" One of the Crows came running over and headed a comms unit to Shutaura.

The commander had a short and terse conversation with whoever was on the line, before allowing a small satisfied smirk to grace her face as she turned to address her men.

"Crows 2-6, get ready to move out! Crows 7-12, stay back and guard the scene. Technicians, I'll leave the processing of evidence to you." Shutaura ordered, getting shouts of 'Yes ma'am!' in return. Done issuing her orders, the brunette turned to Naru and said, "Alright, join us in the transport. We're heading out now."

"Location?"

"We'll be heading tow-"

Naru was about to turn to follow her, when her instincts started screaming at her about imminent danger.

"Move!" The blonde shouted as she tackled Shutaura away from the Armoured Personnel Carrier that they were just about to enter.

It was just in time as with a loud crack that echoed throughout the whole area, the APC was abruptly sliced in half by some kind of red whip. At the same time the whole area around where the APC used to be exploded in a massive unnatural fireball.

 _That was way bigger than it should be, even if all the fuel and ammo cooked off._

 _ **Duh! It's magic. Didn't you see the flaming aura around that whip?**_

"What?" The wide eyed leader of the Crows gasped out.

Naru barely paid her any mind, as she dropped the chakra shell she'd thrown up to protect the two of them and turned to look in the direction of their attacker.

"I think we found our suspect." Naru said as she got off Shutaura.

Standing on the air itself was a titanic humanoid construct. It stood at a massive eight foot height and was wearing red ornate Chinese armor that looked like it had come out of the wardrobe department of a period drama. What truly stood out though was the fact that its skin was a translucent white and was surrounded by a red aura that gave off a spectral vibe.

In his hands was a long red cord.

Naru clicked her tongue, _So is it a spirit or maybe an avatar projection? I guess it doesn't matter, I should end this fast._

"Greetings, servants of the Silver Star." A heavily accented voice boomed from all around them. "I'm afraid Guăng Mù Tiānwáng (广目天王) and I cannot allow you to interfere with my colleagues."

"Do you have your papers? Because we don't like illegals here." Naru shot right back as she started to summon her Jager frame.

Shutaura took the chance that Naru's smack talk gave her to get behind the dubious cover of the remaining Black Crow APC - the earlier one hadn't stood up to the magician's little ghost thingy, so why would this one? - and from the sound of it organised her men for the fight.

"A sharp tongue for a fledgling magic user."

"Oh my god, I do not use magic!" Naru said as her armor fully covered her, an earthy film covering the demonic red plated armor. The new addition was a little something she was working on to counter the proliferation of anti-chakra Dark Matter weapons lately. The earthen armor was compacted as tightly as she could make it and should be able to stop or at least slow - and thus reduce the damage caused by - any attacks made using such weapons.

" **I'm an Esper and I'm about to send you back to Heaven."** She said in a demonic tone.

 _ **I love it when you do that.**_

 _Shut up and focus._

The spiritual being sneered, "That man should keep his pet on a tighter leash!"

Okay, the fucker was dead!

The armored blonde rocketed towards the the warrior with her shield forward, the blade under it flipped out.

"Ha! Your recklessness matches your age, whelp!" The magician mocked as the projection's cord came alive like a snake and one of its ends turned to face Naru.

She tensed, ready to dodge yet another supersonic whip strike. Instead, the cord unexpectedly shifted into a red scaled Eastern dragon, which gave a roar and quick as a viper lunged forward to bite her.

She dodged past it and flew right at the beast's owner. Closing the distance, she leapt into the air and used her shield blade to slash at it. Naru clicked her tongue as the projection pulled back at the last second. As a result, she only managed to slice the breastplate of its armor instead of dealing a mortal blow.

"Good failure, whelp!" The magician snarled as his projection proceeded to snap a punch right into her armored face. The blow was insanely quick, like its whip, and even with her Jager enhanced senses Naru had barely registered that it had moved before its beefy fist had slammed into her helm.

The blonde released a yelp as she stumbled in the air. Shaking off the blow and using her wind powers and her wings to find purchase on the ground, she stabilized herself. Just in time for her to hear another roar. Turning, she saw the dragon opening his maw and promptly breathing out a stream of white flame.

Naru dove out of the way but still got caught up in the sea of fire that the enemy unleashed.

" **You'll need to try har-"**

The Level 5 didn't get the chance to complete her taunt however as the enemy used the cover of the raging inferno to lash out with its whip. The blow struck Naru right in the chest, only a quick shifting of her body allowing her to avoid having her head knocked off, and was sent flying. The armor of her Frame softened the blow somewhat but it still left like all her insides had been turned to mush.

"Argh!" She choked off a scream of pain, even as Kurama rushed to heal what must have been extensive internal injuries.

 _ **Somehow the bulk of the force from the blow got transferred to your insides.**_ The fox noted almost academically. _**I wonder how that works.**_

 _Shut up! Just focus on healing me!_ Naru cursed. _And it's because magic is bullshit!_

She grunted as she crashed into a warehouse, and was prevented from falling to the ground by the cord lashing out once more. This time instead of striking her with a bone rattling blow, it shifted into a dragon's head that firmly pressed into her abdomen and pinned her to the wall.

"Bastard." She grunted and materialized her short sword. The blonde Esper proceeded to stab the dragon right in the crown and began to spread her malevolent chakra into it.

"Ah!" The magician shouted in surprise and called off his dragon, the weapon changing back into a whip once more.

The projection's eyes flashed a violent red, and spoke of its own accord for the first time. It's voice was utterly perfect, inhumanly so. Clearly it belonged to something out of this world.

" **Yaogui**! **You dare taint my holy relic?!** "

 _ **Er, Naru? I think you might have managed to piss off the actual god!**_

 _Yeah? Well fuck this god._

He started to mutter some words as a white light danced along the slowly blackening whip. As it passed over the length of rope, it cleansed it of Naru's poisonous essence.

Naru pushed herself up and dismissed her short sword in favor of her long blade.

She pointed the tip at the avatar, "You think that baby tap was bad? Wait until I stab you."

"Where's the summoner?" Shutaura cursed, as she burst out from behind cover to toss a brace of her small rare earth disks at the projection, the wires trailing from them allowing her to change their direction subtly in mid air, allowing them to slam into its side from an unexpected angle before she used her power to cause them to explode.

The blasts were reasonably weak, but they were enough to distract the magical construct from Naru for a moment. It's distraction was added to when the rest of the Black Crow finally seemed to recover enough of their senses to give her some support fire. Not that it was very useful, as their bullets largely just harmlessly pinged off the construct's armor. It nevertheless created an opening.

An opening that the Level 5 was quick to exploit.

Leaping into the air once more, she swung her long blade and cut a deep gash into the back of the armored avatar.

"Gah! Demon filth!" The magician roared in pain. The avatar twisted around, attempting to slam its fist into her side.

She ducked just in time and charged the projection, but she barely got within a few feet before his whip coiled around her blade and ripped it from her grasp.

 _How? I'm moving almost at Mach 1!_

 _ **It's probably got some kind of supersense.**_ Kurama reasoned. _**Now, stop getting distracted!**_

The blade flew into the air as the projection roared at her. The whip shifted into a dragon once more, and the serpent echoed its master's anger as a purplish miasma spilled from its maw.

 _ **Oh bitch please.**_ Kurama rolled his eyes at this.

 _Kurama shut up! Black Crow can't handle this! We have to end it fast._ Naru chided her demon as she charged the projection once more, heedless of the poison.

 _ **Hey, hey! What are you doing?!**_

 _Just fight it off for me. I can't think of anyway to get rid of it without causing it to spread._

 _ **You are such a soft hearted idiot! Ugh, fine. Just hurry up.**_

"NBC gear now!" Shutaura barked as she sprinted into the APC, presumably where the aforementioned hazmat suits were stored. Her men quickly following suit.

 _I really hope they have enough suits in there for everyone._

She didn't get a chance to be sure, as she once more closed with the Heavenly King. It lashed out at her with its cord which glowed with a frosty aura. Every time it struck a surface, it left a flower of deadly sharp icicles in its wake.

" **Ice too?"**

"Of course, Guăng Mù Tiānwáng rules over _all_ dragons!"

" **Yeah, and just like them, you'll join them in extinction."** Naru declared as she summoned a new pair of swords.

A powerful blast hit the King in the back, and Naru turned to see that the Black Crow APC had joined the fight and was leveling its cannon at the projection and lining up another shot. Behind it, a dozen Black Crow in hazmat suits fanned out as they got back to searching for the magician.

"Pests!" The magician hissed in annoyance, even as his projection turned to face the soldiers and looked ready to attack.

Naru was having none of it.

Firing the jet engine on her backpack, Naru launched herself at the King like a bullet. A spinning bladed bullet. Swinging every blade available to her as she crashed into its side, she cut deep grooves into its armor and carved deep gashes into its spectral flesh.

The godly avatar didn't even wince as it was cut up, even as the magician controlling it hissed in pain, instead calmly punching Naru in the gut. This time the Esper was expecting it and managed to roll with the blow. It nevertheless still sent her tumbling away.

It was clear however who got out of the last round worse for wear. While Naru was admittedly rattled by the punch, her foe looked like it had been shredded.

"That hurt, you wench." The magician said through his construct even as the damage she'd caused slowly repaired itself.

 _It regenerates! Hax!_

The APC's cannon barked, but instead of scoring a hit the King's cord shot through the air and slammed into the shell mid flight, throwing it off course.

 _ **Still not as Hax as the Saten girl.**_ Kurama noted.

 _That's just obvious._ The blonde replied even as she began slashing at the air, sending wind blades screeching towards the damaged King. She didn't want it to turn its attention to the Black Crow again. She succeeded as it responded by having its cord lash out at them, dispelling them upon contact. The effort took its toll though and the rate that the construct recovered noticeably slowed. Though this might have been helped by the occasional cannon shell and wind blade that slipped through its defenses and dealt fresh damage to its already battered body.

"He's on the roof!" One of the Black Crow operatives shouted, pointing to the roof of one of the surrounding warehouses.

Reacting quickly, Shutaura barked out a new set of orders. "Crow 4, 6, 8. Go kill him."

 _Smart move. Taking out the summoner will cause the projection to dispel._

The astral projection turned and attempted to stop the gunmen as they stormed the warehouse where its summoner was operating from.

Naru without letting up on her barrage of wind blades, unfolded her wings and had them stab the construct in the back, impaling it.

"Grah!" The magician screamed out in pain, "May you forever be cursed, you vile wretch! Your kind will perish!"

" **Shut up."** The Number 2 shouted in the direction of the warehouse where the magician was hiding.

She used her wings to fling the avatar into the air. At the same time, she pumped more chakra into her swords, causing them to more than double in length.

" **Disappear, [Omnislash]!"** She roared as she moved in a blur. She swung like a woman possessed, each swing faster than the last. Each swing was moving through the air so quickly that it sent shockwaves rippling through the air around them.

Despite the avatar doing its best to parry the swings with its cord and arms, Naru still managed to score fifteen clean hits that cut deeply into its body. As a result, by the end of her combo, the mighty Heavenly King was reduced to little more than mutilated spectral remains that floated in the air as they gradually dissipated into nothingness.

An agonized wail came from the direction of the controlling magician, but Naru paid it no mind. The guy got what he deserved.

 _ **No kill like overkill.**_ Kurama chimed.

 _Hmm..._

 _ **What is it?**_

 _This guy? There's no way he came into Academy City alone._

* * *

 **Done and done! Whoo, kicking off a new OG arc! Thanks to the team of Nameless as usual!**

 **Ah, slice of life moments, how you work so well for a group of superpowered lolis. Hope you guys enjoyed the little bonding session the girls had. And of course seeing that Mikoto isn't the only tsundere around XP**

 **Nameless: Yes, hope you guys liked the slice of life scene. I am a little concerned people won't stick around to see the action part of the arc after it, but whatever. The arc needed a prelude and this was what we settled on. From a storytelling perspective, it's designed to show how close the group has gotten and will serve as a nice starting point to Naru's character development in this arc, namely that she might be close to them but not know how to properly interact with them at times, something she realizes by the end of the arc. And of course it will be something that she'll start working on in later arcs.**

 **Now to the action! I'm sure you're wondering who else will jump in to help Naru with this great fight that is to come. Well, no one. This is all Naru. That's right! The Saten arcs are over for now and it's on to Naru's! So all you that were whining about Saten being MC, well now it's Naru's turn. Seriously, it's called Trinity for a reason, three, three MCs. Naru, Saten, and Mikoto. Deal with it guys.**

 **Nameless: We admit that we probably miscalculated by frontloading all the Saten arcs, but since they were linked we thought it made sense. In hindsight, we should have squeezed at least one OG Naru arc in between and not left it all up to the Big Spider arc. Well, hopefully it's better late than never. We've also taken the critique about the lack of focus on Mikoto into account and have added OG Mikoto arcs into our plans as a result. We honestly thought canon gave her enough of a limelight already.** _ **Silly**_ **us. Anyways, thanks for the constructive feedback on this front. It helped us a bunch.**

 **That said, there are some points we want to clarify about our verse's "lore". And since I'm the loremaster here, by virtue of apparently being better at phrasing our ideas, here I go. It's long so bear with me.**

 **Some reviewers keep bringing up when Naru will be getting Naruto's canon jinchuriki transformations. So now I'll be blunt and say that she won't be getting** _ **any**_ **of Naruto's canon jinchuruki transformations. Firstly, she's very different from Naruto in terms of personality and more importantly how she uses chakra. As such any transformations she would get if she could would be very different. Just look at her Demon Frames, which by the way are technically her equivalents to Naruto's jinchuriki transformations. Secondly, she can't trust Kurama enough to unlock the higher tier transformations or even equivalents of them. Ever. Why? Because her personality is not as trusting as Naruto's and more importantly her power relationship with Kurama is very, very different. Naruto had a roughly equal power relationship with Kurama, with neither being truly able to one up the other while the Seal was in place. In contrast, Naru outrights dominates Kurama with her Esper power. As such, the kind of deep mutual trust that's needed for the higher tier jinchuruki transformations are just not possible under this dynamic. Hope this answers some things.**

 **On another front, we got a lot of backlash with the last arc about how Naru is underpowered. Well, here's an arc that we hope will rectify that somewhat. That said, don't expect us to go crazy and have her level whole districts or anything. Naru is a pro Dark Side agent and that means being covert. Destruction on that kind of scale is not covert. She's internalized this and doesn't go all out unless she can (i.e. certain conditions are met) and/or has to. Addressing another related line of complaint, Saten may seem more powerful/versatile. This is entirely because that's the role she was trained to fill. While Naru was groomed to be the perfect secret agent, Saten became a one person army. Hence the difference in seeming capabilities. Lastly, please do not forget that the rankings of the Level 5s have nothing to do with firepower and everything to do with research potential that their abilities offer particularly in regards to achieving Level 6. On that front we've already addressed why we've ranked Naru and Saten as we did in a previous AN. Go read it.**

 **E4E: Thank you Loreax. And after all that answering, enjoy the new arc guys and gals!**

 **And remember to smash that review button and tell us what you loved! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Twelve: Through the Danger Zone**

 **Beta:**

* * *

Reabsorbing her Frame, Naru glanced around. The miasma was slowly dissipating, almost like mist clearing. The noxious fumes fading away like fog did under the heat of the sun until there was no trace that it had ever been there at all. At least there was no longer a fear that it would spread further and poison others. Still, who knew what aftereffects there could be for those who even inhaled the poisonous substance for a moment.

That was a concern for another time though, right now there were more immediate concerns to deal with.

 _The commotion's quieted down. They must have captured the summoner._

"You got him?" Naru asked Shutaura as she strolled over to the other girl.

"Yes," Shutaura nodded, before continuing uncomfortably. "But he was unconscious when we found him. We probably have you taking down his projection to thank for that."

"Huh? How does that work?"

The other esper just shrugged.

 _ **Hm, it was probably because he felt the pain of you slicing up his avatar.**_ Kurama chimed in, offering his own two cents on the matter. _ **I mean, the feedback of getting cut into ribbons isn't exactly something you fleshly little humans can take without dying or in this case, passing out from pain.**_

 _What risky magic, but I guess that's what Magicians do to gain that level of power._

Just then the sounds of sirens echoed through the air, turning Naru spotted a couple of ambulances heading in their direction along with another Black Crow APC and a couple of their fancy Crow Cycle tanks.

"How many got hit from that poison cloud?"

Shutaura's lips formed a thin line, "Too many for my liking. Crow 3, 5, and 9 are being prepped for evac. A number of the technicians too."

"So most of your men got into cover in time?"

"Thankfully," Shutaura as she ran her hand through her hair in what might have been a nervous gesture. "We're just lucky that the APC was equipped with NBC measures or there would have been more casualties."

All Naru could manage as she saw the medical personnel load the injured into the ambulances was a weak, "Yeah."

The sight of the men covered in horrible burns drained her of her usual cheer.

While Naru stood there numbly watching as the casualties were evacuated to the hospital for treatment, the Crows leader rounded up the rest of her squad.

A pair caught the blonde's attention as they arrived dragging an unconscious man in his late forties with them, his arms cuffed behind him and gagged. Dressed in simple saffron robes and with a shaven head, he was clearly a Buddhist monk.

"We're sorry we didn't bring your personal mobile weapon, Captain, but without your codes-" One of the newly arrived reinforcements was telling Shutaura when Naru cut him off.

"That man," The Level 5 said, pointing at the monk. "He's our guy?"

"Yes."

"He doesn't look roughed up enough."

Shutaura rolled her eyes, "While I wholeheartedly agree, save it for later. We've still got a mission to accomplish."

"Fine. Just saying."

"You're a professional. Act like it." The older girl said with a glare.

 _Hey! I'm just trying to lighten the mood a little._ Naru thought to herself angrily, as she returned the glare.

Ignoring the silently fuming Naru, Shutaura returned her attention to her men. Waving away the apologies that the new arrivals were trying to make, she began issuing orders.

"Get him into lockup, I want maximum security. Have a team interrogate him as soon as he's conscious. We're going in blind right now and I want to change that." There were disgruntled looks from the Crows, but that quickly changed into vindictive smiles as their leader continued. "Once that's done and if he survives, we can vivisect him. If not, an autopsy will make do."

"You think we have the time?" Naru asked snidely. "He seems to be out like a light."

Shutaura gave her a glance, a small twitch in her brow the only sign of her annoyance.

"Crow 7, your squad handle the prisoner. Take APC Bravo. Crow 4, finish processing the scene. Everyone else, we're heading out. Load into APC Hotel. Crow 14 and 15, you two follow me in your Mobile Weapons. We've got stolen property to recover." The Crow Leader declared, ignoring Naru's totally valid observation.

 _ **Aw. Someone's panties are in a twist.**_

Naru withheld from snickering in agreement, she did allow herself a smirk however as she followed the Crows as they got into their armored vehicles.

"You know if you want intel, I have a source that will have all we'll likely need." Naru suggested as she slid next to Shutaura in the cramped commander's station of the APC.

"What are you doing here? Get into the crew compartment!"

"No." Naru shot back, "I'm your equal on this mission, if I want to sit up here then I can. Deal with it."

"There's only room for one!"

"One full grown adult. We can both sit here." Naru countered. "Besides, do you want my intel or not?"

Shutaura hesitated for a moment, before replying through gritted teeth. "Yes."

The twintail blonde smirked and pulled out her phone.

"Then give me a minute, I have a call to make."

* * *

Ruiko was standing in her room looking at a corkboard she'd hung up along one wall. It had a series of printouts from various camera feeds complete with timestamps, some inherent to the images and others that she'd penciled in herself. They showed a wide variety of locales from across the City and were laid out in chronological order in what was a clear attempt to construct a timeline for something. Next to her, her printer churned out another printout and she reached for it only to stop herself mid motion as her cellphone rang.

" _Hey Saten-chan,"_ Naru-san's voice greeted as she answered the call. _"We have some magicians in the City. Got attacked by one, easily Saint-class. So any intel you have would really be appreciated."_

Deciding this was a decent excuse to take a break, Ruiko sank back into a beanbag chair as she focused on the conversation.

 _She's up against Saint-class magicians?_

Frowning at her friend facing such odds, she nevertheless probed further. She knew what Naru-san wanted, but she wasn't going to give it to her without first getting an idea of what was going on.

"Why not just ask your own handlers?"

" _Because you're faster, silly."_

Hm, this was true. She did have a reputation of being able to get her hands on new intel faster than most. It was one of the reasons she was held in such high regard as an information broker.

"Alright, fine, but you'll owe me a free lesson for this." Ruiko smirked as she remotely accessed her computer and looked up the information her friend wanted.

" _Of course~!"_

"It can't be Ladylee since you seem to have the Crow Unit with you. It's not the Catholic or Anglican Churches since they aren't operating anywhere near District 11. Judging by the avatar in the security feed, I'm assuming it's the Chinese. Though whether he's working for their government or as an agent of one of their monasteries, it's hard to say just yet." The Level 5 logically theorized.

Naru-san whistled on the other end, _"Wow, that's some fast work. I didn't even tell you what type of magicians they are."_

"Hm-hm," Ruiko preened, as she teleported a bottle of soda from her mini fridge into her hand.

" _Why are there so many magicians in the City? This isn't in the agreement for either side. Ugh, how many spies have wormed in…"_

Ruiko frowned, "Is that Sequenzia-san? Hey, if she wants my intel, she's going to have to pay me. While you are a friend, Naru-san, she's most certainly _not_."

" _Alright-"_

" _Hey!"_ Sequenzia-san shouted over the line.

Ruiko just ignored the Level 4 and unscrewed her drink and took a sip as Naru-san continued, _"Just don't make it too hefty. For me?"_

Ruiko could already imagine Naru-san pleading with those big blue eyes of hers, doing her best to look cute and somewhat needy.

"I'll think about it."

" _You rock, Saten-chan!"_

Yes, yes she did. Ruiko enjoyed how easily the blonde was praising her for such small and inconsequential matters.

"Oh!" The information broker chirped, or as close to it as she could manage.

" _What?"_

"I've identified the magicians you're dealing with?"

Naru-san sighed in annoyance. _"So there's more than one after all?"_

" _Of course, there is. Didn't he mention-"_

"Sequenzia-san is correct, that he'd not be working alone should be a given. Why the surprise?"

" _Oh, I'm not surprised. Just resigned."_

"Ah!" Ruiko said with a nod that her friend couldn't see. It was superfluous and was something the old her would never have done, but it felt right to do it. "Well, it seems they are a team of four magicians working for the CCP. Ironic considering the Communists are supposed to be atheists and all. In fact did you kno-"

" _Saten-chan!"_

"Right, sorry." Ruiko smirked. Getting a rise out of Naru-san was surprisingly fun. She could see why the blonde liked trolling others so much. "Anyways, they're from a sect of Buddhist magicians employed by the Chinese government that specializes in summoning avatars of the Buddhist gods. The group in the City are their elite unit whose summons are the Four Heavenly Kings."

" _Heavenly Kings?"_

"Yes, like Guăng Mù Tiānwáng (广目天王)."

" _I've beat it already."_

"Was that who that avatar was?" Ruiko asked. She had guessed as much, the dragon whip was something of a giveaway, but some confirmation never hurt.

" _Yes."_

"You work fast." The AIM manipulator noted genuinely. The Number 2 had always been remarkably efficient at her job of covertly eliminating the City's enemies, but getting evidence for _just_ how good she was at it was always a surprise. "In that case there's still three more for you to worry about. A second one is Zēng Zhǎng Tiānwáng (增长天王) who is supposedly super durable due to causing the roots of the world to grow and wields a sword and can command the wind."

" _Earth and wind? Seriously?"_

"It's how it is." Ruiko shrugged. "Next is Chí Guó Tiānwáng (持国天王) who is armed with a kind of Chinese stringed instrument called a pipa-"

" _I know what a pipa is! Who do you take me for? A barbarian?"_

" _I wonder sometimes."_ Sequenzia-san added in teasingly. Though she doubted Naru-san could detect it. The only reason Ruiko did was her own personal experience with being emotionally stunted.

" _Hey!"_

She chose to ignore the byplay however and continued her explanation as if she hadn't been interrupted. "-and uses sonic attacks. Lastly, there's Duō Wén Tiānwáng (多闻天王) whose weapon is an umbrella and uses rain magic."

" _Yesh, where's our weather altering sempai when she'd be useful."_ Naru-san groaned, _"I should start preparing to counter him then. I'm going to guess he has some lightning spells as a byproduct of his weather shtick?"_

"It's likely. And while Sempai would most definitely be helpful, we should leave her out of our Side."

Naru-san sniffed at this, _"True, she's too softhearted for this stuff. Well, thanks for the intel Saten-chan. I'm going to go give them a CWA. We still meeting up tomorrow?"_

" _CWA?"_ Sequenzia-san asked in confusion.

" _Can of whoop ass."_

Oh, that was a fun little acronym.

"Yes, I believe so."

" _Awesome. Laters!"_

With a click, Naru-san ended the call.

Ruiko stared at the phone, a sense of worry worming into her heart.

"I hope she can handle things." Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, she scoffed. "She's the Number 2, of course she can handle a handful of magicians."

Putting the matter of her friend's mission out of her mind, she focused back on her own. Causally using an emulated transmutative power to reduce the empty soda bottle in her hand into harmless elemental gases, Ruiko stood and collected her printout. Walking over to her corkboard, she added it to her timeline.

"Accel, just what have you been up to?" The Number 3 rhetorically questioned as she eyed the numerous images of her friend pinned in front of her.

* * *

"So I think our chances are good. You?" Naru asked Shutaura as they drove down the street.

The brunette's arms were crossed tightly over her bust, her eyes narrowed.

"I agree, if we work together. I'm not too proud to admit that we'll need you to handle the magicians. Leave the securing of the objective to us."

Her blue eyes sharpened as Naru frowned, "I don't take orders from you, Shutaura. We're equals on this."

"Yes, so let's split the responsibilities here equitably. If you recklessly try to do everything then you could very well put my men in danger, not to mention jeopardize the mission."

"I'm a professional, so you can at least treat me better than some rookie."

Neither were backing down as they stared at each sternly for what felt like an eternity.

Their contest was broken as each huffed and looked away, refusing to admit defeat

They proceeded in silence for a while, but due to the close proximity they were in, Naru could feel Shutaura brushing up against her quite… frequently.

 _I-It must be because it's such a tight space._ Naru rationalized, trying to banish the sense of confusion she was feeling at the other girl's touch. Every brush sent a tingle shooting up Naru's spine and she didn't understand why! Kurama snickering in the depths of her mind didn't help either.

She turned to look at Shutaura, only to find herself looking at the other girl's long hair. A few strands of which tickled her nose, and filled it with a curious scent.

"Hey, what type of shampoo do you use? Is that strawberry?"

The Crow Leader turned around to glare at her with a cute blush creeping along her cheeks.

"Shut up."

Ah, there was the fun side of Shutaura. Naru grinned at her and was about to play a game to try and guess what kind of shampoo it was. Sadly, before she could even open her mouth to get started, her senses screamed at her.

"Incoming!" Naru shouted at the driver. "Right! Turn right!"

Following her lead, the APC suddenly swerved to the right even as there was an explosion to their left.

"That was Crow 14!" Shutaura breathed out in shock. "Who's attacking us?"

Naru didn't pay her much attention though as she stood up to pop open the hatch. Glaring upward, Naru saw a large cloud that was slowly parting as they drove pass.

As it cleared, it revealed the latest Heavenly King hovering over them while standing on a smaller cloud. Like the previous one, it was a eight feet giant with translucent skin and dressed in medieval Chinese armor. Unlike the first avatar thought this one was armed with a sword and its aura and armor was blue instead of red.

"I guess that must be Zēng Zhǎng Tiānwáng." Naru frowned and rolled her eyes, _It even has a_ dramatic _entrance. How quant._

"Cease your endeavor or taste my heavenly blade, running dogs of Science." The magician's voice boomed from his projection even as he had it swing its sword down at them.

Both the APC and the surviving Crow Cycle swerved out of the way as a massive wind blade carved a deep trench in the road. Unfazed by this destructive display, the Crow Cycle popped opened a series of missile launchers and fired a barrage of micro missiles at the Heavenly King while the APC angled its machine gun and let toose a burst of fire at the projection as well.

The avatar didn't even bat an eye as with one swing of its sword, it unleashed a shockwave through the sky that detonated all the missiles in midair. As for the machine gun fire, it didn't even bother paying it any mind. Which was understandable when the bullets seemed to simply harmlessly ricochet off its body.

"Bullets and missiles aren't going to cut it." The blonde said, "Get your guy out of here."

"Keep him off of us." Shutaura told her as she radioed for Crow 15 to disengage and rendezvous with them later.

Naru looked down at Shutaura, "Just make sure we keep moving."

She didn't wait for a reply as she gathered chakra into her feet and climbed atop the APC.

Shutaura shot her feet a uncertain look, which just irritated the blonde.

"I'll be fine! Just put pedal to the metal!" Naru shouted back, even as the Crow Cycle leapt to the side of a building and sped away. It however decided to leave a going away present in the form of a parting salvo of missiles.

 _Idiot! That'll draw the bastard's attention._

Just as predicted, the Heavenly King focused on the missile barrage by releasing another midair shockwave that prematurely detonated the rockets. Worse, it looked ready to follow this up with a wind blade at the retreating Black Crow Mobile Weapon.

Acting quickly, Naru took a deep inhale and let warmth fill her body as she moulded chakra and used it to transmute the air in her lungs into fire. Exhaling, she released a blazing stream of flames from her lips that lit up the sky.

"Perfect! The yaoguai shows herself!" The magician said in a jovial tone as the projection dispersed her stream of flames with a single slash of its sword and its accompanying gust. "It will be a great honour to cleanse this word of your taint."

The gust rocked the APC and would have tipped it over, if Naru didn't act quickly and conjured her own winds to help stabilise it. The magician took advantage of this distraction however and launched another wind blade in their direction. Thankfully, the Crow at the wheel must have seen the avatar swinging its sword through the rear view camera and so sharply swerved to the left just in time to avoid being cut in half.

The sharp turn had Naru stumbling a step. Her feet might have been secured to the APC by her chakra but her upper body was still subject to the sudden shift in momentum and so she lost her balance a bit. She recovered quickly though and turned to return fire at the avatar which was pursuing them while riding on its cloud with a brace of fireballs. With another wave of his sword, it sent a wind blade that snuffed out her flames while it screeched through the air right at the Science side members.

Naru wasn't having that as she blocked the attack with a shield formed out of chakra. Reabsorbing the shield, Naru kneaded her chakra within her once more, this time transmuting the air in her lungs into moisture that she fired out as a pressurized jet of water.

It was faster than her fire breath and managed to clip the avatar's shoulder before it could even attempt to block but it didn't even so much as flinch from the blow.

 _ **You have to overload the summoner's brain like last time. Keep pounding him.**_

 _I know that._ Naru told the demon fox as she cut off the ineffectual water jet and prepared another attack.

The Heavenly King wasn't idle however and thrust his sword at them, sending a tornado roaring down towards them.

 _What!?_ Naru thought to herself, dumbfounded by her enemy's sudden change in tactics. If she was alone, she'd just have jumped off and used some geokinesis to create a makeshift storm shelter to weather the attack. Unfortunately, she wasn't alone and right now she was stumped on what she could do to keep everyone safe from an attack like this.

The APC driver was thankfully on the ball and put on a burst of speed and turned into a parking garage. The twister was powerful, but nowhere near enough to tear the solidly constructed concrete structure apart.

"Good driving." Naru complimented even as the Heavenly King bellowed in rage.

The APC tore through the parking garage, belting towards the exit as soon as they could.

As they drove away, Naru felt a pit in her stomach as the parking garage began to shudder. A moment later, screams and cries filled the air as the structure began to collapse. The driver pushed the armored vehicle harder than ever before as it tried to stay ahead of the destruction. It barely managed to do so and burst out onto a busy District 18 street just as the structure collapsed entirely.

"There were probably civilians in there." Naru breathed out in shock, as she looked at the ruins of the parking garage. Before now, the chase had been confined to the relatively empty service roads of District 11 and so civilians had not really been part of the equation. But now...

"There are no such thing in this city." The magician declared coldly, even as his projection closed with the APC once more, completely disregarding the fact that they were now smack dab in the heavily populated heart of the City.

"I thought monks valued life. Guess that's a lie!" Naru snapped right back with anger in her eyes. Focusing her chakra she created two powerful electrical charges and through them a burst of chakra infused lightning that she directed with her will at the Heavenly King.

Her large lightning bolt hit the chest of the avatar, singing it as it stumbled back in the air.

"Ho? So you do have something that can hurt Zēng Zhǎng Tiānwáng? It's pretty weak though, that barely smarted." The magician taunted, even as he had his projection take in a deep breath. Exhaling, it released an immense gust of wind that sent all manner of things along the street flying. Cars, roadside kiosks, security robots, even civilians themselves were caught up and sent hurtling through the air.

A horrified Naru poured her chakra into the air in a desperate bid to counteract the magical attack. Her chakra was not able to affect the magically infused air and with how saturated the local area was by the Heavenly King's attack, this meant that she was only able to slightly blunt the powerful attack.

As she saw the first of the hapless civilians caught up in the attack crash back into the ground, the blonde shouted at the driver , "Get us out of here! He's going to aim for everyone around us!"

"I know that!" Shutaura shouted right back even as the driver tried to turn back towards the relatively less populated District 11.

The Heavenly King however wasn't about to let them get away so easily and sent a wind blade that cut a massive trench in the road they needed to turn onto. It also coincidentally struck down a bus stop, that as they sped pass Naru noted had been full of cowering school children and other innocents.

Naru steeled her heart at the sight as she tightened her fists in anger. He attacked once more, just as they pulled a sharp turn around a corner and pass a cluster of fleeing students.

The Number 2 refused to give him the satisfaction of more innocent blood. Her own wind blade struck against his, causing a large burst of wind that blew the students to the ground, but at least kept them alive.

"Yaoguai, you dare use the winds of Heaven against Zēng Zhǎng Tiānwáng? Know your place!" He shouted, enraged she had used his own element against him.

 _I've been using it the whole time, dumbass._ Naru though as she fired another lightning bolt at him. His blade caught it this time and redirected it into the sky, the bolt flying into the clouds.

"Your Heaven's fire will not stop me! Children of Earth, come to me and crush my foes!"

At the magician's command, or perhaps that of the god he was channeling, a large fissure opened in the road ahead. Even as the APC skidded to a stop, a half dozen horse-faced dwarfish and misshapen humanoids with large pot bellies and oversized testicles crawled out of the crack in the earth to block their way.

 _Summoning even_ more _gods!?_ Naru thought incredulously. _He totally doesn't care about keeping the secret of magic, does he?_

" **Go my loyal kumbhāṇḍas and destroy my enemies."**

 _Ok. I'm pretty sure that was the god giving that order._ Naru lamented even as she prepared to face the new threat. _Why me?_

 _ **Well, you did piss off his brother King in the last fight. Maybe he's pissed on his behalf?**_ Kurama suggested.

"Whatever!" Naru shouted defiantly as she took a deep breath and unleashed a high pressure stream of water that she used to easily decapitate all six of the demonic looking things in a single pass. Headless, the humanoid bodies collapsed but even before they toppled over, they had already began to regenerate.

"You'll have to do better than that." The magician taunted, even as he and his god seemed content to stand back and watch. Naru swore she'd make them pay for their arrogance, but for now she'd settle with dealing with their subordinates.

"Jump the gap!" Naru heard Shutaura order, even as she used her wind to pick up the six grotesque bodies into the air which immediately halted their regeneration.

"What? How?" The magician shouted, obviously surprised that the Esper had so easily figured out the weakness of his new batch of summons.

 _It wasn't hard you dumbass. Not when you literally called out their element when you summoned them in the first place._ The Level 5 thought to herself snidely as she released yet another torrent of pressurized water. This time however the volume was larger than she'd fired throughout the whole battle, and was more than enough to blast the entire bodies of the earth minions into tiny chunks.

At the same time as she was finishing off the small fry, the APC started moving again. It backed up a bit and after revving its engine for a moment, put on a burst of speed that allowed it to easily make the jump across the fissure.

" **Yaoguai! Die!"** The god cried out, as the whole area shook in response to his fury and pillars of earth shot out of the ground in an attempt to skewer the armored vehicle. The Crow driver continued to prove just how skilled he was however, and with some absolutely insane skill managed to avoid that fate.

"Whoa!" [Maniforce] cried out as she crouched down to get a better hold on the roof of the vehicle.

"The tunnel. Head for the tunnel!" Shutaura commanded.

"Wait! No!" Naru tried to shout in warning. But with the noise caused by the still ongoing earthquake and the roar of the APC's engine, the driver must not have heard her as moments later, they drove into a tunnel that connected District 18 with the underground research area of District 22.

 _Shit! We just entered his domain._

 _ **We're screwed.**_

 _No shit Sherlock!_

They barely made it a few hundred metres before the tunnel ahead suddenly collapsed.

"What!? It was fine just a minute ago." Shutaura gasped in shock.

"Domain of wind and earth!" Naru cursed. "We basically drove right into his trap."

As if in response to her words, the Level 5 felt the air around them shift. Turning back to the tunnel entrance, she saw Zēng Zhǎng Tiānwáng closing with them menacingly while still riding his cloud. More alarming was the massive tempest that he was forming around himself.

Seeing the storm, the blonde scrambled back into the APC. As she plopped down next to Shutaura she shouted, "Brace yourselves!"

Everyone did as she said. Just in time too, as not a moment later, the storm struck. For a brief moment, Naru felt like she was weightless as the APC was tossed around like a toy until the vehicle violently collided with the rock that had filled in the tunnel. This was followed by another moment of weightlessness as the fifteen tonne vehicle was once more lifted into the air by the squall. Until of course they crashed into the earth once more, the vehicle's frame whining from the strain of its repeated beating.

This repeated itself what felt like a half dozen times, but may have been more or less, Naru lost count after the third strike.

Finally after what felt like an eternity, now lying on its side, the APC stopped moving. Inside, the hectic rocking had left the two girls in a tangle of limbs.

"Ohh," Naru groaned and shook her head as it landed on something soft. "Is it over?"

"Seems like it. Now, get off," Shutaura growled sternly.

Trusting her frenemy's word, Naru let the cocoon of chakra she'd wrapped around the interior of the APC fade. Keeping it up had been exhausting, mainly from the strain of concentrating to maintain it while being thrown around like a ragdoll, but it was probably the only thing that kept everyone in the vehicle from being reduced to a bloody mess. Breathing a sigh of relief as she re-absorbed the chakra, she looked up to see what had got Shutaura so pissed, only to be greeted with the sight of the usually taciturn girl's face covered in a bright red blush.

 _Huh?_

As she pushed off, Naru realized the reason behind the older girl's odd behavior. Somehow she'd ended up face first in the older girl's bosom. This revelation left the blonde feeling a rush of heat in her cheeks as well. Desperate to escape the embarrassing situation, she hastily looked to the side even as she used her chakra to mould the air around her into a blast of wind that busted the overhead hatch open.

"Come on!" The blonde said as she scrambled out with Shutaura just a little ways behind her. The commander ordering her men to escape the vehicle over the comms as she did so.

"You guys stay back." Naru warned the Crows. "This one's tough. I'll take care of him."

Shutaura shot her a glare, but turned to order her men to do as she said.

"Done exchanging your last words?" The arrogant prick asked as he had his summons hover in the air a few feet ahead of them.

"Not yet." Naru shot back even as she stomped her feet and pumped a chunk of her chakra into the ground. In response, a protective shield of rock shot up around the overturned APC and the Crows gathered around it. She made sure to keep the earth in the shield and the ground around it infused with a portion of her energy, hopefully that would stop the magician from taking it over with his magic.

 _He probably can if he tried hard enough. Earth_ is _his element. But it might just buy them a few seconds._

Naru wished she could do more, but right now she had a godly avatar to send back to Heaven. Turning to face said floating projection, she leveled cold blue eyes at it. Her usual cheerfulness gone and her tone akin to a tundra, she addressed her opponent.

"You really fucked up, buddy. You come into my City, strutting around like you own the place. You even killed innocent people." Her lips curled into a deadly smile as her demonic chakra began to cover her body, "For that, I'm going to send you to oblivion."

"Ha! Big words for a toddler!" He bellowed with laughter. Naru let him as she stalked forward.

Each stride she made thundered as her Frame formed around her body. By the third step, the fully formed bulk of her Panzer stomped down the tunnel like a freight train. At the sight, the Heavenly King stopped laughing.

"Fool!" He shouted as he pointed his sword at the ground before slashing upwards. Emulating the motion of his blade, jagged pillars of earth rose up to stab her.

Naru merely shrugged it off, her Frame easily tanking the earthen pikes. Instead, she began picking up speed, slowly but surely breaking out into a sprint as she charged through the still growing forest of rocky spires as if they were little more than wet tissue paper. With unerring accuracy, she barreled towards the spectral figure.

Closing the last few feet, Naru leapt at the floating avatar. As she closed in, the blonde cocked her right arm back even as the bulky limb altered itself. The fist grew in size, easily doubling its mass. Its shape changed as well, as the forearm became rounded and a large piston jutted out of the Frame's elbow.

" **Take this!"** Naru shouted as the piston shot back and rocketed into the Frame's arm. An instant later her fist impacted with the Heavenly King's smug unchanging face. **"[Sudden Impact]"**

The massive power fist hit the Heavenly King with such incredible force that it sent a shockwave rippling through the air and sent the divine construct flying through the air and out the tunnel.

"Argh!" The magician grunted in pain, as his projection landed with a skidding stop on the road outside.

Stomping toward it, Naru said, **"Get up. So I can swat you like the fly you are."**

"Big words, you chùsheng!"

" **Heh, all I'm hearing is buzzing."**

He roared at her, swinging his sword and unleashing a barrage of wind arcs that sliced through the air at the Level 5.

She focused her chakra, building it up and then released it into the air around her in a single concentrated burst. The energy infused the air around her, amplifying the power of the outburst and creating a massive shockwave with her Frame as the centre. One powerful enough that it easily nullified the King's attack.

" **You know, I really want to use my Jager to cut you up and bleed you out."** Naru declared ominously as her Frame's eyes glowed a menacing red and she advanced on the Tiānwáng. **"But you're a little too durable for that, aren't you? Well, I guess I'll just have to settle for beating you into a bloody pulp with my Panzer."**

"Chùsheng, I'll send you to Naraka after I slice you to ribbons. Let that be the first of the punishments that the gods will bestow upon your sinful self!" The magician ranted as he had his projection begin swinging his sword furiously and unleashing a constant stream of wind blades and the odd twister.

Naru easily tanked the wind blades and just ignored the tornadoes, the chakra in her feet and the sheer weight of her Frame keeping her planted.

"How? How are you walking through an onslaught like that unscathed!? Why won't you just die, you sǐ yaoguai!" While his avatar's face remained unchanged, she could easily pick up its summoner's panic and fear of her.

" **Fuck you, that's how."**

With a final leaping charge Naru finished closing the distance with her foe. While still in midair, her left arm transformed into a copy of her right and its piston pulled back. As she landed, the blonde punched forward. The Heavenly King tried to block the blow with his sword, but it was so powerful that the divine weapon snapped. Barely slowed, the oversized fist buried itself in the avatar's gut and sent it flying once more.

" **My sword! Curses be upon you, you vile yaoguai!"** The god roared so loudly that the earth shook at the sound of its voice as it staggered back to its feet.

" **If you don't want your toys broken, then don't bring it to a fight."** Naru shot back unafraid. The god's only response was to blur forward in an impressive burst of speed and punch Naru right in the face. Even within her heavily armored Panzer Frame, Naru was rocked by the blow. She swung to deliver her own return blow, but in a show of incredible skill the projection seemed to literally flow around the blow and instead entered Naru's guard once more and dealt a second teeth rattling blow.

Naru took a step back to give herself some breathing room, but found the earth under her suddenly opening up slightly and causing her to topple back. The Heavenly King took the opening he'd created and launched a flurry of machine gun quick blows at the Esper. Each blow created a shockwave that shattered the glass in the vicinity and even levelled the more damaged of the buildings.

Naru rocked back from the repeated blows and grit her teeth as she felt the force impact her body. She was chalking up damage fast. Faster even than her healing factor could keep up with.

 _ **The Frame can't take much more of this!**_ Kurama warned. _**Get us out of his strike range. Now!**_

Taking her tenant's advice, Naru teleported behind her opponent. He was caught off guard, but only for a moment and faster than was humanly possible the King turned around with a sweep kick. Naru had expected this however and had rematerialized in midair and the kick passed through empty air.

" **Eat this!"** Naru roared as she kicked out with both legs right into the construct's unguarded chest. The force of which sent it flying for a third time. Grinning victoriously, the Level 5 teleported once more to follow up on her attack.

" **Now, enjoy oblivion."** Naru said with finality as she teleported right in front of the construct. The pistons on both her arms slammed into her elbows and she drove both of her fists into the helpless construct. **"[Double Sudden Impact]!"**

In the face of the immense force of the Number 2's attack, the Heavenly King's body burst like a balloon all while its controlling magician screamed in horror.

Meanwhile the Panzer Frame landed back on the concrete with a massive thud, cracks appearing on the ground from the impact.

" **Man, for supposed gods th** ey really fall apart when they don't have the edge." Naru huffed as she re-absorbed her chakra once more.

Her eyes scanned around, the Magician should be within a certain range.

 _From what we can gather, they seem to fall unconscious once their avatars are destroyed. I'm sure someone's going to come across him. Still, I'll see if Shutaura can spare some manpower to search for him. Who knows what he can do once he wakes up? It's too dangerous to leave him alone._ Naru thought as she walked back down the tunnel. As she neared the APC, she spotted her frenemy on her phone.

Shutaura snarled as she snapped her phone closed.

"What happened?" The blonde asked.

"Our prisoner woke up." The brunette frowned deeply.

Naru was confused, that sounded like a good thing, "And?"

Shutaura looked her straight in the eye and said, "He doesn't even remember who he is."

"Well, we got another one now, right?"

Shutaura let out a frustrated hiss. "Yes. I've already called in reinforcements to search for and secure him. Hopefully, he'll be more useful."

 _ **Or he could be worse off.**_ Naru's demonic tenant opined. _**As I said, you humans are fragile meatsacks. The kind of feedback controlling those avatars must have? With how you took out this one, I wouldn't be surprised if this guy was rendered a vegetable.**_

 _Wonderful._ Naru thought even as she grit her teeth in annoyance. After that tough brawl, she wanted a lot more than some brain dead shell of a man as a prize. She couldn't after all enjoy beating up on someone like that. _Whatever!_

"Don't worry about that now." Naru told Shutaura. "Remember the mission."

Shutaura gave her a solid nod and Naru flashed her a smile.

Good to know they were on the same page.

* * *

 **Done and done! Man, this whole chapter was action packed! Thanks to the team of Nameless as usual.**

 **Phew, car chases, explosions, Power Fists (love em!), and more! But seriously, insert whatev mecha power fist you want there, we left it open for your imagination. ;) Still, one of our more actiony chapters so far, at least in comparison to our more "storyful" ones.**

 **Nameless: Hope you guys liked the action. We know we enjoyed writing it. About that, I do want to talk a bit about the ruthlessness displayed by the monk here. He completely didn't care for the civilians huh? Well, as he said he doesn't see them as such. To him the City's residents are all heathens to the Magic Side so to an extremist like him they aren't even human in his eyes and can be treated as disposable so long as his own objectives are met. I get this vibe, subtly, from a lot of the Magic Side characters when they interact with the Science Side in canon. In fact, I get the feeling that if not for fear of Crowley and their own leaders holding them back, the magicians would have stormed Academy City ages ago and committed genocide on its Espers. Sure, even I admit that this probably isn't true of** _ **all**_ **magicians in canon and in our verse. But the extremists? Of which we've seen quite a few? E.g. Vento, Izzard, etc. Well, this guy was representative of them.**

 **Asshole, well onto the next segment. I hope everyone can appreciate the small fluff moments we had. I thought having a frenemy/frival thing going on would be cute. Shutaura and Naru have an interesting relationship so showing more of it is always fun for me.**

 **Nameless: You just like to ship. Not that there's anything wrong with it, just be honest mate.**

 **E4E: I can ship anything.**

 **Nameless: So some of you might be wondering why Saten didn't rush over to help after learning that Naru was up against Saint-class magicians. Well, it's pretty simple. She trusts that her friend can handle it. She knows that dealing with threats like this is Naru's job, and one she's good at. So she's not overly worried. She's sure that if Naru needed help, she'd call. Since she hasn't, not to ask for on the ground backup at least, well there's no reason for her to get more involved with the Dark Side than she needs to.**

 **And also Saten just doesn't mesh well with fighting magicians.**

 **Nameless: Shh! That's a secret for later! Seriously though, if you want to know why? Well, it'll be revealed in a few arcs. [Looks at notes.] Quite a few actually. Well, hope you stick around to find out.**

 **Another thing. Dunno if you readers will care, but just in case you do: All the curses that the magician uses? They are authentic Mandarin vulgarities. I'm actually a little ashamed to say I actually had to look up the transliterations, since Mandarin is my Mother Tongue and all. So if you're confused by what they mean go look them up. The meanings don't always seem offensive but trust me they are, even if they are generally quite mild. The dude's a monk after all, can't expect him to curse like a sailor now can we?**

 **Finally, I would like to talk about a reviewer last chapter that got quite hostile over PMs.** **He suggested some changes that would not work in the fic for various reasons (he wanted to increase the rule of cool factor in the story and deviate very far from the canon setting [not the plot, but the** _ **setting**_ **itself], both things we are explicitly trying to avoid in this story) and offering to write them in** _ **for us**_ **. I outlined in a response why his suggestions were untenable, told him that** **no he couldn't write for us, that he had pissed me off with his frankly outrageous, in his words, 'request' and that he was being incredibly presumptuous to make such an offer. He then responded by completely disregarding what I said about the limits we were following when writing this fic and continuing to push his case for his suggestions despite me clearly pointing out his suggestions wouldn't work, offering no way to make them workable but simply because he thought they were cool. I couldn't help but find this incredibly insulting as he was effectively demanding we change the story to suit his whims at this point. When I shut him down again, he accused me of having a "toxic" attitude to criticism. Now I will agree that we (mainly me) are resistant to criticism and will demand people convince us that a particular critique is valid before agreeing to implement the change in our stories.** **This is, I think, however is a perfectly logical attitude to take. We write because we find it fun, not to satisfy our readers' every whim. We want to tell a story of our creation, not a quest. So why should we change _our_ story to incorporate any given piece of criticism unless you can convince us?**

 **Basically what I'm saying is this: We have a relatively high bar for what we consider constructive criticism. So if you're suggesting we change something in our stories then expect that** **you'll need to be prepared to defend the validity of the change and convince us of its necessity before we can accept it. This isn't us being "toxic" or whatever you may call it, it is simply us standing up for the integrity of our own work.**

 **E4E: Alright, you guys know what to do, smash that review button and tell us what you loved! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Thirteen: Level 5 Flood Warning**

 **Beta:**

* * *

A short while after the battle, a new APC along with a full quartet of Crow Cycles showed up. They had even brought along Shutaura's personal Spider Walker in a trailer truck. Now reinforced once again, the team headed into District 19 on the other side of the City. It was apparently where the item they were looking for and the two remaining thieves were hidden.

A fact that Shutaura had discerned from talking over the phone to a representative of one of the City's Directors who had called them to 'check on' (aka berate their handling of) the situation. Well, at least the ass was providing them with helpful intel. Naru really didn't want to trouble Saten-chan again. She was losing out on precious sweets each time she gave the other girl a 'free' lesson.

Naru honestly didn't really know whether to trust the information the Director was providing them. They were a slimy bunch and she wouldn't put it past them to pull a fast one on them but Shutaura seemed to trust the intel. The moment she'd gotten the location of their target she'd ordered all her men not helping Anti-Skill manage the remains of the battlefield into their assigned vehicles and put a marker on their shared GPS for their target.

Being the professionals they all were, they promptly took the hint and headed out while Shutaura stayed on the line with the Director's stooge milking him for more information.

What she'd learned was both fruitful and frustrating at the same time.

"So you think the diplomacy will go well?" Naru asked from her perch atop Shutaura's Spider Walker while she kicked her legs impatiently.

Sending a glare at the blonde for her careless disregard for her personal weapon, the Black Crow leader replied. "Who knows? The Chinese government is notoriously difficult to deal with. Then again if anyone can manage to get them to do the smart thing and back down, it's one of the City's Directors."

"And yet we're still here. Waiting for the talks to fail." The Level 5 observed as she gestured to a abandoned and dilapidated shopping mall that was where their target was located.

"Or we're here as a show of force to get them to agree to the City's terms."

"If you say so." Naru replied skeptically. "But seriously? What's with all these countries trying to sneak in and steal our stuff? When are they going to learn? It usually ends with them being embarrassed or Crowley using it as leverage against them in some way or another."

"Greed makes the world go round."

"Amen to that." Naru said, flopping back to lay on the Mobile Weapon.

"Though I think you'll be surprised how much of our technology _does_ get stolen." Shutaura added while shooting her fellow Esper a sly look.

"I'm not stupid, Shutaura. I know it does. Nothing is hundred percent certain, just like our defenses."

"That's not where I was going with that." The brunette countered looking affronted. "Must you always think I am trying to insult you?"

Naru blinked in confusion. "Sorry. So what were you trying to get at?"

The Level 4 huffed but didn't push the matter and instead chose to continue explaining her line of thinking. "What I was trying to say was that much of these high profile incursions are simply distractions. Most of our losses actually get taken by much more covert means."

"You make it sound like our covert defenses are lacking." Naru replied with a frown.

The older girl just shrugged. "They are impressive, but as you said earlier, nothing is hundred percent. And with the near constant large scale distractions taxing our resources, there are a surprising number of holes in our security."

Mildly concerned and starting to take the conversation more seriously Naru looked down to face Shutaura, only to catch the other girl looking up at her, or more specifically up her skirt.

Deciding their conversation could do with a little lightening up and feeling a bit teasing, Naru said, "I got them at that specialty shop in District Seven. You like?"

Seeing the normally stoic girl's face turn red was well worth it as she shouted, "Just pay attention! We have to be prepared to move out at a moment's notice!"

 _Gotta thank Shirai-chan later for that one. Haha, who knew Shutaura could make such an expression?_

"Of course." Naru nodded, still grinning as she turned to look at the abandoned mall. "I'm so bored~! Can't something happen already? Preferably something that lets me beat up some skinny monk ass."

"Just be patient." Shutaura advised, her face still a little red. "I'm sure the talks will reach a conclusion soon."

"It better."

The leader of the Black Crows just shot the [Elemental Empress] a warning look.

With nothing else to do, the duo and their men waited. All while not once letting down their guard or loosening their encirclement of the ramshackle shopping arcade. They were also further reinforced by another four Crow Cycles and three APCs full of men as the unit's other teams finished up their other tasks and reported for duty.

Through it all, Naru couldn't help but feel herself grow increasingly restless. It was obvious to her that the only reason they were waiting so long was that the talks were getting nowhere. In that case, why waste everyone's time? The Directors should just give the go ahead for them to storm the place.

Shutaura, Naru noted, behaved in stark contrast to herself. While she was fairly sure the older girl had reached the same conclusion she had, it didn't seem to affect her at all. Instead, she was taking the time given to check up on her men, especially those who had showed up from other tasks and made sure they had a break so they could be in top form when the fighting inevitably started.

Finally, after an entire hour there was a ringing sound from within the Spider Walker. Rushing over from where she'd been discussing something with one of her team leaders, Shutaura hit the call button on one of its displays, "Yes?"

Trailing behind her curiously, Naru heard the news she'd been waiting for. _"Negotiations have failed. Start the retrieval operation."_

"Yes sir." Shutaura said and ended the call, before turning to Naru. "Looks like you have gotten your wish."

"Yep! So we busting in the front or are we going for a pincer?"

"As much as I dislike having to call Magicians that, these guys are skilled. They've likely trapped the whole perimeter and all entrances with all manner of traps both arcane and mundane that they know. "

"I could go through the front as a distraction? It might give your guys a chance to sneak in and take the item back." Naru offered. "I mean, I've taken out two of them, so they might have a bone to pick with me."

 _ **Are you really offering yourself as bait?**_

 _It'll be hard, but we can do it, Kurama._

Shutaura seemed to contemplate the idea. After a moment, she closed her eyes and with a painful look on her face, replied, "Either way, we're going to have casualties."

The blonde nodded. Like the other girl said, these guys were pros. They'd have accounted for any plan the girls could come up with on short notice. Plus they'd had more than enough time to change the crumbling mall into a death trap. Even if they covered all their bases, nothing short of a miracle was going to let them get through this without someone on their side at least getting hurt.

"I'll go Panzer and you follow my path of destruction?"

"...Yes." Shutaura nodded slowly. "At the same time, I'll have some of my teams attempt to breach from other vectors."

"A multi pronged assault? Think it'll work?"

"Maybe, if the Chinese haven't been through. It's probably our best bet."

"Let's do it." Naru declared as she leapt off the mobile weapon and started to advance to the front entrance. As she walked, her hulking Frame appeared around her

Behind her, Shutaura was busy issuing commands even as she sealed up her cockpit.

" **Alright, on your count."** Naru said as she went into a charging stance.

"On my mark."

"Three."

"Two."

"Mark."

As Shutaura's word, Naru charged through the main entrance of the rickety shopping centre. The moment she crossed the threshold of the building, her senses were immediately overwhelmed by a burst of bright light and the earthshaking roar of an explosion.

* * *

Shutaura's grip on her control sticks tightened as she watched what happened.

The moment the Level 5 entered the building, things immediately went pear shaped. Suddenly, green colored magic circles appeared all over the exterior of the abandoned mall from which shot out streamers of light that bound her up before she could even notice. Only the advanced sensors and predictive software in Shutaura's Mobile Weapon allowed her the split second window of time to pull back in time to avoid getting tied up by the trap.

It was also what gave her the time to speed away from the devastating follow up as only seconds later, the magical circles turned red and promptly exploded. As if the sudden explosion wasn't bad enough, the sheer force of the blast had the added effect of bringing the whole building down with it.

"All units, report!" Shutaura ordered, even as her heart skipped a beat. She'd been expecting traps, but nothing like this! She hoped her men were alright. Even as the reports from the other teams began coming in, she did a quick check of her own team. Thankfully, they'd taken their cue from her own hasty retreat and managed to all get away in time. Besides what looked like a handful of minor injuries they looked fine, though Crow 10 looked like she was holding her ribs a little tenderly.

" _Team 2, two injured and one MIA."_

" _Team 3, five injured. Pulling back."_

" _Team 4, two MIA, none injured. Crow 5 is KIA."_

Shutaura's grip on her controls tightened even further as the rest of her Unit called in. It was disheartening, but she steeled herself the best she could.

"All Teams, fall back and regroup with your reserve teams." Shutaura called out as she herself reversed further away from the blast zone.

The Earth Palette user was drawn away from reorganizing her men when the rubble shifted a little and a small chunk of it was tossed into the sky like a geyser of debris to reveal Naru Namikaze in her Panzer frame.

"Namikaze." The brunette breathed with a sigh of relief at the sight. Only to be gripped by a sense of unease as seemingly out of nowhere a pair of saffron robed monks materialized less than ten feet in front of the blonde.

 _One on one, she'd be fine. But two at once?_ Shutaura bit her bottom lip as she racked her brain to come up with something she could do to help the blonde.

"Greetings Child of the Fulfilled Prophecy." Shutaura heard over the powerful audio pickups of her machine as the taller monk who had green trim along the edge of his robes addressed the blonde.

 _Prophecy?_

* * *

 _Prophecy?_ Naru wondered as she could feel Kurama being rattled by the green wearing leader monk's words.

" **Uh, hey?"** Naru said in return, at least this one wasn't attacking her from the get go this time.

"The Lord Buddha knows all." The monk replied while offering the Esper a mysterious smile.

 _Any clue what he means?_

 _ **No idea.**_ Kurama replied pensively, clearly unsettled by what the monk had just said. Oddly enough he didn't seem to be lying, just confused.

 _I wonder what's got into him?_ The blonde mused, while making a mental note to force the reason out of the fox later.

Ignoring her confusion, the monk kept speaking.

"I apologise for what Zēng Zhǎng Shī Dì did." The lead monk said in a surprisingly calm tone. "Involving civilians like he did was unnecessary."

" **Unnecessary!?"** Naru asked through gritted teeth.

The monk in the white trim just shrugged and chimed in. "Yes. We apologize. Shī Dì has always been a little overzealous when carrying out his duties."

" **I'm sure all those families will understand then."** Naru said scathingly.

"The path to Nirvana is to let go." The white monk told her solemnly.

" **Then let go of the item you stole and give it back to us."**

"I'm afraid we cannot do that. However, there is no reason that this standoff need devolve any further." The green monk offered. "All we want is to return the item to its rightful owner. If you would let us leave with it, this need not become a battle."

Naru's Frame creaked as she tensed for combat, **"As nice as that sounds, I can't let you take that item."**

"Please reconsider." The white monk requested earnestly. "What Ladylee plans to use the item for is ultimately futile and will only unnecessarily put innocents in harm's way. Knowing that, will you still stand in our way?"

For a brief moment, Naru hesitated. While it had never been much of a consideration in her career as an agent of the City and on more than one occasion had been the objective of some of her missions, the blonde had never liked seeing innocents hurt.

 _They're lying, right?_

Her demonic tenant remained silent.

 _Whatever._ Naru told herself with as much bravado as she could muster, which in the depths of her mind was not much at all. _Even if they're telling the truth..._

" **The second you invaded my City, this was bound to happen. We can't back down or it'll look bad for Academy City. I get you're doing your duty, but understand that I have to do mine."**

"A pity." The green monk said genuinely, even as his body began to distort into the familiar form of a Tiānwáng. This time with green armor and armed with an umbrella.

"Agreed." The white monk said with a sad shake of his head as he too transformed into a Tiānwáng with white armor and a pipa.

 _This is going to suck._ Naru noted with a mental sigh. _Dealing with weather magic and sound based magic is such a pain._

 _ **You should fallback and let those other humans actually**_ **do** _ **something useful.**_

 _If I do they're just going to get killed!_ Naru scolded the demon.

As if to prove her wrong, two dozen discs shot pass the blonde and flew towards the two projections before they promptly exploded with the force of several powerful grenades.

 _ **Ha! See? Someone finally does something. At least that girl is proactive.**_

 _Kurama, she's not strong enough for these guys!_ Naru replied even as ran toward the two Kings who were obscured by the excessive smoke left behind by Shutaura's attack. Her steps thundering as she charged as fast as she could in her heavy Panzer Frame, she hoped she was fast enough to make the most of the distraction that the older girl had created.

She didn't make it within ten feet of them however before a beautiful melody rang out across the area. At the same time, waves of raw sonic energy cleared the obscuring smoke to reveal their source to be Chí Guó Tiānwáng strumming his instrument seemingly without a care in the world, even as its music dealt massive damage to its surroundings. The shockwaves each note created reverberated out in all directions and were eating away at the rubble of the destroyed mall, grinding it into dust. Naru's heavily armored Frame and the Crows' distance were the only things that kept them from being reduced to the fine dust that everything in the immediate area of the King was being transformed into by the power of the sonic attack.

Naru grit her teeth as she tried to no avail to brute force her way through the wall of sound that her enemy was throwing up. Instead, she was slowly but surely being pushed back with each note of the song.

 _Damn it! These guys are strong!_ It wasn't just these two either, the previous two monks had been monsters in battle too. _No wonder Ladylee let Aleister make me join in on this op. She must have known that the Black Crow Unit alone wouldn't have been able to handle it._

Naru was just about to change tactics and try a teleport when Duō Wén Tiānwáng decided it was time it joined in on the fun as well and lifted his umbrella like it was a gun and fired a massive jet of water that hit Naru dead centre and sent her flying.

Despite her armor's impressive protections, she could feel it straining against the attack. _Just how much magic did the guy pour into this!? Kurama, reinforce the Frame. Now!_

 _ **On it!**_ The demon fox replied dutifully. _**Word of warning. Don't get into a war of attrition with these guys. For all we know they have access to their god's power reserves. We'll be up shit creek without a paddle if that's the case.**_

" **Shutaura you need to stay back!"** Naru shouted as she got back onto her feet. She was just getting her bearings back when she heard a 'tink tink tink' noise and looked up to see rain starting to fall from a now blackened sky.

 _Honestly where's Misaka-Sempai when you need her._ The blonde mused in annoyance.

Turning backing to the two Heavenly Kings, she only saw the one with the pipa, who thankfully had stopped playing its music for the moment and was satisfied to glare at her with its impassive face. Ignoring the idle opponent, her eyes quickly glanced at the sky once more and sure enough there was Duō Wén Tiānwáng hovering in the air above the battlefield as he swung his umbrella around. With every motion of his unorthodox weapon, the storm churned and claps of thunder could be heard.

 _ **Panzer is useless here.**_

 _And Jager would need to get in close. Kurama, we're going with Festung._

 _ **Heh, about time.**_

 _Work fast._ Naru warned, as the fox got started on the transformation. Time. That was the big danger to switching Frames in the middle of battle. The Frames were exceptionally complex chakra constructs, loads more so than anything else she usually created, and so it look her or her tenant a comparatively long time to form them and even more so to change them on the fly. Thus creating a major risk in battle, where even a single second of increased vulnerability could be life threatening.

Putting thought to action, the demonic chakra that made up the Panzer Frame lost its rigidity and became fluid as it reshaped itself into a new form. In response, Naru was hit by another sound wave, this time focused in a concentrated blast. The increased power and the decrease in her defensive capabilities due to the state of her Frame meant that she couldn't have resisted the attack even if she wanted to. Not that she did, instead she let herself be pushed back by the repeated vibrations of the air to help her create some distance with her opponent. It would take some time for her to finish the transformation from her current massive Frame into another one and some more room to maneuver while it finished was just what she needed.

The Black Crow didn't seem to realize that or listen to her earlier suggestion, as they decided to once more step into the fight. In a well coordinated barrage, dozens of micro missiles and charged explosive disks slammed into Chí Guó Tiānwáng, their combined payload proving enough to cause the projection to stumble and thus disrupt its attack. Something that it was not happy about if the look it shot the gathered soldiers was any indication. For an unmoving face, it somehow still managed to pull off a perfect death glare.

" **Shit! Pull back, you idiots!"**

Her words came too late, as the sound wielding Tiānwáng began playing a melancholy song. Immediately, the Black Crows began acting strangely. Most just dropped their guard and lulled about, but in more extreme cases some of them dropped to the ground and began sobbing. Under the influence of the white god's power, they didn't even do anything to protect themselves as the rain transformed into hail and began pelting them. Considering that some of the supernatural hail was the size of bowling balls, this proved deadly.

Protected from the music's effects by the chakra roaring through her body, Naru watched in horror as dozens of Crows and even three of their Crow Cycles were utterly squashed as large chunks of the magical frozen rain slammed into them at unnatural speeds.

 _Kurama, hurry up!_ Naru cursed. She looked on helplessly as she and her demon focused all their attention on hurrying up the transformation of her Demon Frame.

Shutaura it seemed was not so helpless. Somehow unaffected by the hypnotic power of the white Heavenly King's music, she launched her Spider Walker into the air and fired a salvo of disks at the pipa wielding avatar. Her live wires shot out and charged the disks as they fell around the Heavenly King, causing them to explode and cause a large combined conflagration.

 _How the hell is she immune to that?_ Naru was shocked by how the Black Crow leader seemed to be able to outright no sell the Saint level magic. She'd thought only a Majin or a more powerful Saint could pull that off.

Despite the older girl's valiant effort however the avatar moved out of the dust cloud, unscathed beyond some scuff marks on his armor and still playing. Looking at Shutaura's Mobile Weapon it struck a high note and sent a powerful sonic blast directly at it.

The mobile weapon shot backwards as its legs creaked and crumpled as it tumbled along the ground, before coming to a jarring stop as it crashed into the side of an abandoned office building. As if that wasn't enough, the other Heavenly King seemed to decide to add to Shutaura's misery and sent down a bolt of lightning that hit the machine just as it struggled futilely to get back onto its feet.

The bolt from the heavens did the Weapon in and it collapsed to the ground and began sparking dangerously. Reacting quickly, Shutaura bailed out of it just as it began to catch fire. She was barely three feet away when it exploded and sent her flying away like a ragdoll before she landed harshly on the ground where she lay worryingly still.

 _KURAMA!_

 _ **All set!**_ The demon told her as the chakra around her body finished shifting into their new shape.

The blonde's limbs were encased in a set of thick armor. Nowhere near as heavy as that of her Panzer, but still well above any conventional armor even those of the bulky Powered Suits. It was also much slicker than most armor and possessed an faintly knightly aesthetic. Over her shoulders were a pair of large barreled cannons, from the end of the pauldrons were a series of missile boxes that reached all the way down to her wrist. On either wrist she had a large shield on which were mounted a large gatling gun. Running on the outside of the armor's beefy lower legs were another series of missile boxes. Lastly, on her hips were a pair of small turrets.

This was the Festung Demon Frame. It was Naru's last resort Frame. One designed for the express purpose of delivering excessive firepower to resolve a situation.

Unless it was absolutely needed, Aleister had forbidden the Number Two's use of this Frame due to its destructive capability. As the Superintendent had once told her, he didn't want to have to remodel whole Districts every time she felt like taking a shot.

However, considering the situation she thought its use now was justified.

"Chí Guó Shī Dì keep her occupied. I'll deal with the small fry." The green projection in the sky ordered.

"Understood, Shī Xiōng." The land bound divine construct said without once letting up on its hypnotic song. While that was still keeping the Black Crows enthralled, it began slipping in a series of harsh notes that sent blasts of sonic energy directly at Naru.

" **Not this time you don't!"** The blonde shot back furiously, as her over shoulder cannons barked in time with the incoming attacks. From their muzzles fired forth powerful blasts of raw chakra that easily cancelled out their targets.

Even as she let half her mind focus on neutralizing the white god's attacks, she used the rest of her focus to aim all her other armaments at its green counterpart. Said Heavenly King was at the moment proving just how little its controller lived up to the pacifist and forgiving tenets of his faith by directing ever more deadly showers of hail and bolts of lightning to finish off the handful of remaining Crows.

Her missile boxes opened up and salvos of explosive chakra shattered the hail into tiny bits that fell onto the incapacitated soldiers like snow.

She couldn't do anything for the lightning bolts though, as she lacked the electrosense she'd have needed to sense where they were likely to hit ahead of time and prepare accordingly to redirect it. So she could only grit her teeth in frustration as they struck the Crow Cycles, causing them to explode and killing dozens of her allies.

Naru could however get revenge and she aimed to do exactly that as she aimed her gatlings at the green prick.

Her gatlings began to rotate and a literal rain of chakra bullets filled the sky as she opened fire on the umbrella using avatar. He stopped everything, except the rain though that seemed a self-sustaining phenomenon by this point, just to spin his umbrella to create a protective shield as her salvo bombarded him. This action also served to point his weapon's tip directly at her and form it leapt a massive bolt of lightning.

Naru let out a snarl of pain, but otherwise continued her assault as her missile boxes joined the fray to add their fire to the storm of projectiles she was sending towards the green god.

" **You want to up the ante? Well, eat th-"**

Naru didn't get the chance to finish her sentence as a powerful blow struck her from behind. Her hip mounted turrets reacted immediately and opened fire on a muscular humanoid formed from glimmering blue-green water with hefty arms and two glowing blue eyes that shone from a featureless head that was attached to a torso which in turn trailed off into a vestigial whirlpool.

The shotgun blasts of chakra her close range defense guns fired easily tore the water elemental - What else could it be? - apart but to Naru's annoyance it quickly pulled itself back together and was soon joined by what looked like dozens of its fellows as they formed out of the ankle high water left by the still pouring rain.

" **You think this is-"**

Again Naru was interrupted, this time by everything in her immediate vicinity suddenly quivering for a moment before disintegrating.

 _What the-_

 _ **You forgot about the Sonic King. He just used natural resonance to-**_ The demon fox explained, only to be cut off.

 _I know what he did!_ Naru frowned as she shook her head. Using the minimal thrusters on the Festung Frame, she pushed herself to the surface of the water filled depression that the surprise attack had created.

As she surfaced, she was greeted with the sight of both Heavenly Kings glaring at her while surrounded by a cadre of dozens of water elementals.

" **Well ain't I popular?"** Naru asked nervously. Against two Saint-class magicians and their flock of summons, she was not liking her odds.

"It is not too late to give up on your mission and leave, Xiǎo Gūniang" The lead monk offered kindly.

" **Would you?"**

"No, no I would not." He said and Naru picked up a hint of regret in his voice.

"Shī Xiōng, she has a warrior's spirit." Chí Guó replied earnestly, even as his projection's hands moved to pluck the strings of his weapon.

 _ **Tch, look at you. Getting so chummy with the enemy.**_

 _It's… Different._ Naru retorted as her hip turrets started to fire again, mowing down the elementals. Even as they reformed and proceeded to swarm her, she left the control of the guns to Kurama so she could focus on the Heavenly Kings.

 _ **Give me control of the gatlings! There are too many of them for the defense turrets.**_

Naru nodded absently as she released the shield mounted gatlings which promptly began hovering in the air thanks to a series of gimbal mounted propellers that deployed to transform them into autonomous drones. Kurama immediately seized control of the two constructs and use them to lay down withering fire to scythe through the still swarming horde of water elementals.

While her tenant kept the watery menaces away, Naru focused on firing off [Demon Force]s from her shoulder cannons at the two Heavenly Kings. Both of whom didn't bat an eyelid at the reddish orange barrage, instead standing there and relying on the occasional note from Chí Guó's pipa to create a dome of sonic energy that kept them safe.

She needed something bigger, something with more firepower.

Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one who seemed to be thinking that. Seeing that his elementals were proving ineffective Duō Wén threw his umbrella into the air where it began to spin rapidly which released a hailing shower of razor sharp heavily magically infused water bullets. The attacking horde of water constructs were unfazed by the attack but the bullets chipped away at Naru's armor. In tandem with this, Chí Guó strummed a chord on his pipa that sent a single powerful sonic blast straight at the Level 5 that sent her two gatling drones tumbling in the air and herself staggering back.

The boosters on her back kept her upright as she took aim once more. However, her opponents weren't done yet and even as the water elementals regrouped to press her again while her drones were still busy recovering from the damage they had sustained, Duō Wén sent down a bolt of lightning at her.

" **Argh!"** Naru grunted as the magical lightning sent pain surging through her body, even through her thick and supposedly insulating armor. **"Magic hax. Hate. Magic."**

Despite her pain, Naru didn't let herself get distracted as she finished creating six regular sized [Spiral Force]s that rotated around the muzzles of her shoulder cannons. Even as a pair of larger [Spiral Force]s finished charging up within the cannons themselves. Altogether, it looked almost like a trio of moons rotating around a planet. As soon as they made contact with the larger spheres she shouted out, **"[Planetary Force]!"**

At her cry, she fired off both chakra spheres which by this point had distorted into a pair of massive and turbulent vortexes.

As the volatile attack flew through the air, the rain in its immediate path was blown away by the fierce winds it left in it's passing. In response, Chí Guó began playing a fast paced tune that conjured a thick visible dome of magical sound to protect himself and his fellow Heavenly King.

It proved to be insufficient however as the moment that the vortexes hit the dome, it shattered like glass and engulfed the Heavenly Kings in a tumultuous dome of destructive energy as they unloaded their payload. The blast wasn't confined to just the space around the Heavenly Kings though, it engulfed the whole area. Buildings all around the District, abandoned thankfully, were caught up in the explosive power and were simply vaporized.

 _Holy shit! I think I might have gone a little too far there._ Naru observed as a bead of cold sweat went down the side of her face, even as the impact zone settled and the rain returned. _I really hope no one on my side got caught up in that._

 _ **Worry about that later! We still have a fight to finish.**_ Kurama reminded the Esper even as he continued to open fire on the reduced but still numerous multitude of water elementals.

As the winds churned up by the devastation scattered. Naru could only see the musically talented King lying sprawled on the ground, his avatar looking ragged and missing his pipa. In fact, he was lacking the whole arm that went along with it.

Wasting no time, she seized the opportunity and firing all her boosters, she rushed forward. A panel on her wrist popped open with a jet of steam and from it ignited a jagged beam saber made of chakra. With the ease of years of training, she swung the fiery energy blade down and in a single stroke sliced off the prone and disorientated Chí Guó Tiānwáng's head with little effort.

As the Heavenly King's head rolled, the avatar slowly began to dissipate.

 _That's three for three, but if he survived that attack then where's-?_

A splash met her ears and she turned to face the source of the noise. In mid-turn however, she was struck by a torrent of pressurized water.

" **Urgh."** She grunted as she tanked the blow, using her boosters to keep upright once again as she skidded across the ground by several yards.

Using the thrusters on her back, she shot up into the air and using a bit of her wind manipulation to offset the aerodynamically poor Frame quickly stabilized herself. The muzzle of her shoulder cannons flared as she fired a duo of [Demon Force]s as a counterattack.

She saw the last Heavenly King sink into the puddle he was standing over as it was vaporized. He appeared a few meters away rising from another puddle as he raised his umbrella defensively.

Naru slowly descended to the ground, never taking her eyes off the avatar as she glared at it malevolently.

Duō Wén Tiānwáng however barely paid her any attention, instead focusing on pulling off his next move. With his symbol of power opened and clasped in his hands which were held clasped together as if in prayer, he intoned the name of his attack. "Shèng Yǔ De Shěn Pàn! (圣雨的审判/ Judgement of the Divine Rain) **!** "

Seeing that the enemy looked like he was about to pull off something big, Naru moved to interrupt him. Realizing that she didn't have time to charge up anything, she settled for raining down a hellish barrage of chakra blasts on him with even the drones under Kurama's control, by now finished dealing with the elementals, joining in to rake him with fire.

Unfortunately, Naru was a step too slow as the moment that the words were spoken his spell was complete. It caused the nature of the still raging storm to violently change. Where before it was simply a heavy downpour, it now became a storm of truly divine fury. The raindrops literally transformed into magically infused spears, while the lightning became divine lances. All of which had somehow developed a homing function as they moved to intercept all of her fire while simultaneously targeting her drones _and_ herself.

Naru's eyes widened as she attempted to shift her fire to intercept them. However, before she could even move a fraction, pain flared in her body. Multiple points of her body felt as though they had been skewered as her back thundered against the ground.

A groan escaped the blonde as she looked at her condition. She was practically a pincushion as the spears of water and javelins of lightning had pierced her Frame's armor. They hadn't just hit anywhere though, no, they had scored at her Frame's weakness, it's joints.

Naru had to begrudgingly give the monk credit where it was due, he knew what he was doing.

The pain of having her limbs pierced was agony enough, but the ass didn't seem to think that was enough and decided to repeatedly electrocute her with divine lightning too. If not for the pain tolerance she'd developed during the course of her training and healing factor, she'd likely have passed out from the pain. Neither of those however were enough to stop her from crying out in pain though.

" **Son of a-!"** She snarled, doing her best to bite back any more howls of pain trying to come out.

"It is time to end this."The monk declared solemnly as he advanced on the Level 5's immobilized form with his umbrella leveled at her like a lance. Lightning danced across it's length as he came to stand directly above Naru and pointed its tip directly at the girl's head.

Naru shot him a defiant look, even as her mouthplate split open vertically, to reveal a small cannon inside the Frame's open maw at the tip of which rested a purple orb with motes of blue and red dancing within.

" **[Bijudama]!"**

The blonde fired the demonic ball energy point blank at the avatar, hitting the Heavenly King square in the chest. The explosion that followed rocked the entire district as Naru felt herself flung into the air. For a moment, the blonde felt as though she was merely floating until she harshly met the ground in a thud.

Her Frame was broken, the chakra construct shattered by the devastating power unleashed by her last attack. Laying on the ground while feeling utterly exhausted, the Level 5 let the remaining few pieces of the damaged armor dissipate into motes of charka.

" **Oh, oka** y, note to self. Try and bolster Festung's defenses. Especially against magic." Naru told herself as she slowly reabsorbed her mangled Frame. She tried to stand up, but winced and collapsed face first due to the pain in her knees.

"Kurama!" The Number 2 growled.

 _ **I'm working on it, just sit tight.**_ The demon promptly replied.

She had a strong feeling he was mocking her, since she could hardly move.

 _Do you see him?_

Kurama didn't say anything at first, _**No, we wiped out the Avatar. I think. I don't see it. His summoner? No clue, let the birdies deal with that.**_

Naru grunted as she pumped some chakra into the air, using some careful wind manipulation she managed to cause her injured body to float. Once she could get a good look around, aided by the fact that the rain was clearing up, the blonde let out a low whistle.

Craters were scattered throughout the entire area and she was in the centre of the biggest one. Buildings in the immediate vicinity had completely ceased to exist. Overall, it looked like Naru had done the City's urban planners a great service. Thanks to her, most of District 19 had been levelled and was now ready for redevelopment.

 _Damn, and people wonder why I hold back all the time._ Naru thought as she looked upon the aftermath of the fight. _It's hard being a city destroyer._

At least she wouldn't have to foot the bill for damages. It was Shutaura's op after all, so her organization would be the ones that would be paying. This fact was one of the main reasons that Naru was as willing to cut loose as she had. Aleister would pitch a fit, as much as the placid man ever does anyways, if he had to pay for the repairs to a district because she went overboard. He'd warned her as much.

Still, pride swelled inside Naru. She managed quite a feat today. In a single day, she had taken down four Saint class Magicians. Two at once even.

She couldn't help it, she started to cheer.

"Whoo!" The blue eyed girl exclaimed as she raised her arms in the air, only to wince as her elbows smarted. "Ow, ow, hurts to cheer."

 _ **Stop moving!**_ Kurama complained to her as blood slid down her arms. _**You're lucky that the lightning didn't fry your nervous system.**_

 _Yeah, yeah, I know._ Naru rolled her eyes. If she was afraid of a little divine lightning, she wouldn't be good at her job.

Hearing a vehicle coming up to her, Naru turned to see an ambulance driving into the former battlefield. It came to a halt at the edge of the crater and the blonde floated over, wincing as her limbs dangled in the air.

 _ **Alright, your legs should be fixed in a minute.**_

 _Thanks._ Naru thought back as she came face to face with Shutaura, who had exited from the back of the ambulance. Her head was bandaged, her bodysuit was ripped in certain areas and she walked up to the blonde with a limp.

Naru felt like hugging her, but swiftly stopped herself. One, she needed to temper her excitement over their success, and two, because it frankly hurt as all hell to even move her arms.

"Hey Shutaura, thanks for the ambulance, but I think I'll be okay in ten minutes." Naru said with appreciation.

Most of the handful of Crows inside the vehicle that Naru could spot all shot the girl dirty looks at that.

"It's not for you." The brunette informed her coldly, even as she waved at the driver to get going. He gave her a nod and drove off. "We need to debrief."

"Hey, can we not just jump into that? I mean, we won. Hooray for Team Science?" Naru replied with a playful frown.

The Black Crow leader just shot her a cold look as she replied, "I think you've celebrated enough. We saw you cheering after you killed the last King."

"So you were watching the fight from afar? Pretty epic, huh?" Naru offered a tired grin as she landed on her feet. She hissed in pain, her limbs tender.

"Yes, without you, we probably could not have accomplished this mission."

The blonde couldn't help but smile a bit at the praise. "Thank you."

"That's not the point!" Shutaura snapped at her, making Naru take a step back. "Do you know how many of my men died because of you?"

"Wha-?"

"And you have the gall to cheer? Is this how much you care for your allies?"

Naru stood there, stunned, before anger began to bubble up within her.

"Like you have any room to talk. Without me, this would have been a suicide run and we _both_ know that."

"And as I said, we appreciate that. What we don't care for is how you can't even respect our losses. Hell, did their lives even factor into your decisions when you started throwing city destroyers around like candy when my men, your allies, _were still on the field_? Did that fact enter your mind when you celebrated a victory that cost them their lives due to _friendly fire_?"

The Level 5 bit her lip, wanting to snap at her. The way she just continued to dress her down, after doing everything she could to help her? It stung.

"You're overreacting." Naru said in an uncertain voice.

"I am." Shutaura acknowledged after taking a calming breath. "Perhaps my men and I should be more grateful to you but it doesn't make anything that I said any less true."

Shutaura turned to walk away, her voice was soft as she said, "You should learn to read the tone better. You've done enough, we'll take care of the rest."

And as the older girl limped away, she muttered under her breath. "How in the world does the rest of the Trinity stand her? She's so insensitive!"

Shutaura knew she had a good sense of a hearing, so she'd said that knowing Naru would hear it. Somehow that just made the words cut into her even more. The fact that this was the second time that she'd been scolded over this issue recently didn't help matters. Thinking back to the aftermath of the battle against MAR during the Poltergeist Incident, Naru finally began to truly see _why_ her friends had gotten so upset with her then.

 _[The Trinity Tragedy]?_ Naru reflected with a sense of growing self-recrimination as she recalled how she'd playfully tried to name the combo she and her friends had used to defeat Therestina. _I was being a jerk. Saten-chan and Sempai had just basically got tortured and I was joking around. When Saten-chan's siblings were still in enemy hands no less. It's a wonder they didn't attack me for how callous I was being._

"And I screwed up even worse this time, didn't I?" Naru observed as she let her gaze search the wasteland around her, where the Crows were busy recovering their casualties. Most of which were ending up in body bags.

 _ **Bah, what does it matter? You defeated your enemies each time. You can do what you want.**_

 _That's not the point! I-I want to be a good person. I don't want to be…_ Naru knew she was no angel, but she wasn't a Kihara either.

 _I want to be a good person._

 _ **So did your mother, look at what happened to her.**_

Anger flared in her, as she gripped Kurama's entire being and twisted it painfully.

 _Shut up! Just shut up!_

* * *

Shutaura had told Naru to scram but the blonde was professional enough to wait until the item was recovered before leaving. While she waited she made it a point to give the surviving Crows a wide berth and continued to reflect on what her frival had told her.

Eventually coming to a conclusion, she decided to make a much needed call.

"Yo Sempai, can we talk?" Naru said in a downtrodden tone as her Sempai, Misaka Mikoto, answered her call.

" _Hey, you okay?"_ The older girl had asked, confusion in her voice.

"I just realized that I'm a terrible team player."

" _Well you can be. I've been telling you that for ages."_

"Yeah, yeah, I know you have. But I've just got it for real, you know?"

" _So what happened this time?"_

"That's classified information."

" _What are you? The heroine of a spy show? Come on."_

"No, really."

" _Ugh, fine. Is that all, super spy?"_

"No, I was also trying to say sorry."

" _Shouldn't you be saying sorry to Saten-san too? Considering the situation, she deserves it more."_ The older girl reasoned.

"I was gonna call her next." Naru confessed. Both girls were silent for a moment, before the blonde picked up the conversation again. "I'm not trying to justify anything, or maybe I am? But anyways I guess all those solo missions made me a little umm… terrible at playing nice with other people. So I guess… What I'm trying to say is thanks for putting up with me."

" _You're rambling, Chibi-Usagi. And despite being an ultra pain, you're still my friend...somehow. But talking about those solo missions? Mind telling me a little about them? Maybe if I knew more, I could help you out more."_

"No, sorry. They're classified too."

" _You and Saten-san, you have too many secrets between the two of you. What troublesome little Kohai I have."_

"It comes with being a Level 5. Seriously, Sempai, you don't know how lucky you are."

" _Lucky, huh?"_

"Yeah. Hey, uh, thanks for listening to me babble."

" _Heh, you can go on and on. I bet you're pacing right now with how much you're rambling."_

Naru pouted, because she actually was.

"Shut up."

" _Ha! Got ya!"_

The two shifted into a different topic. They talked about more silly things, surprisingly with Misaka teasing Naru for a change of pace. Naru herself was caught flat footed and found herself playing the tsundere this time.

 _Is this what people consider normal? It feels nice._

* * *

In a lavishly appointed office a young blonde girl with aquamarine eyes and dressed in an outlandish vaguely gothic lolita checkerboard patterned suit sat behind an antique desk while having a video call with an older gentleman with pale blond slicked back hair and blue eyes who was wearing a dapper looking blue business suit via the wall mounted plasma screen.

"Honestly Thomas, did you really think your scheme would work?" The little girl said in an uncharacteristically mature tone, entirely unfazed by the fact that she was talking to a Director of the City and thus one of most powerful men in the Science Side.

Not that Ladylee Tangleroad had anything to fear from someone as insignificant as Thomas Platinaburg.

"I must say, this spectacular failure certainly gave me quite a laugh, Thomas." The young girl said with a throaty chuckle.

The man's face grew red, _"I have no idea what you are talking about."_

"Your scheming with China says otherwise, Thomas. I worry about your position on the Board if the other Directors found out."

" _Are you threatening me, Tangleroad?"_

"Not at all." The girl returned nonchalantly. "Merely stating the facts. I mean, if the others found out how pathetic you are at your attempts to improve your standing. Well, as the old adage goes 'sharks can detect a single drop of blood in the ocean' and your colleagues are much, much more dangerous than any shark."

" _I have no idea what you're talking about!"_

"Denial, now? Really? Was your failure of a plan really that embarrassing that you're going through the seven stages of grief?"

" _Did you call me just to gloat?"_

"As a matter of fact? Yes, I did." Tangleroad replied with a smirk, as she glanced at a stack of four thick folders. "It's only fair. After all, not only did your plan completely fail in its objective to disrupt the building of Endymion, thanks to it I even earned myself four interesting new samples."

" _Argh! You brat!"_ The Director screamed in anger even as his face transformed from a shade of red into a deep maroon and he swiftly ended the call.

In response, the youthful girl couldn't help but laugh at his childish antics.

"Ah, what an amusing human." The twintailed girl said as she opened the case that started this whole dispute.

Resting on a velvet pillow was a twelve inch long horn. It was made of ivory with ringed ridges going down its length and gave off a dim light.

It was a unicorn horn.

"And with this, I'm one step closer to achieving my hope and dream." The youth smiled wickedly, her elongated canines showing.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks go to the team of Nameless and Axios as always.**

 **And with that, the Chinese Invasion arc is done. I hoped you guys liked it, I know we showed a lot of Saten at the start of this fic, but mainly because those arcs affected her the most, so it looked as though she was the MC. The thing is, each girl of the Trinity is the MC. They take turns. This was Naru's turn. The Sister arc is coming up, and with Naru and Saten, there will be some changes, but don't think we are leaving Mikoto with just canon events. She'll have her own Char Dev in some original arcs.**

 **Nameless: What we mean is that the Sisters Arc is Mikoto's turn as MC. The original has plenty of Char Dev for her so we're hard pressed to add more, but we'll try our best. At worst though at least expect some original twists due to her two friends butting their heads in.**

 **Now onto the chapter itself. I gotta say, it was fun making use of the Heavenly Kings. I think Naru's going to be taking a long nap after fighting four Saint-class Magicians in one day. Talk about crazy huh?**

 **Nameless: Yeah, that and avoiding the inevitable scolding someone (Aleister, her handlers, Saten, take your pick of someone in the know that she's on speaking terms with) is going to give her for levelling a good chunk of the City without prior approval.**

 **Talk about an Alucard/Integra relationship, lol. Now as for the reactions Naru got at the end by Crow unit, well that was a perfectly human reaction for them. I mean, sure, Naru had to up her game just to survive and win, but not a lot of Crow unit came out of that one alive. Naru herself has been a solo agent of AC for as long as she can remember, so she's not exactly a teamplayer. So this was her callousness being called out and her reflecting on it. So, Char Dev, noice.**

 **Nameless: The Crows' reactions were a little extreme mind you. Most professionals can pretend a little better. Then again, their reactions aren't atypical either. They literally were either injured by her large scale attacks or saw comrades killed by them. So yeah, they weren't in a forgiving mood at the end of the arc. Just recall how people get snappy after a hard day, this is very roughly the same situation.**

 **And I'm sure some have notice the little fluff we have added into the arc. Let us know if it was interesting.**

 **Well, you know what to do. Smash that review button and tell us what you loved! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Fourteen: Direstrait Sisters**

 **Beta:**

* * *

Misaka Mikoto, the strongest Electromaster and the Number 5 Esper in Academy City, had been hearing odd rumors lately. Normally she didn't put any stock into gossip, but this struck a little too close for home for her comfort. The talk of the City was that there were clones of her running around doing who knows what at odd hours of the night. These rumors had been circulating for some time apparently, but the Level 5 had only got wind of them when she'd overheard a group of her dorm mates discussing it in whispers behind her back earlier that morning.

Unnerved by the possibility, the chestnut haired girl decided to talk to one of the few people who she knew that would be privy to this type of information.

"Saten!" Mikoto called out as she rang her kohai's doorbell. She was about to ring it once more when a voice from behind her made her jump.

"Hello, Sempai."

"Gah!" Mikoto screamed in surprise and turned around to see Saten dressed in, rather unexpectedly considering the Tokiwadai dress code, a simple tank top and medium length skirt combo.

The brunette cocked her head to the side at her startled appearance and Mikoto's cheeks burned in embarrassment.

"You shouldn't just appear behind people like that. Geez! Give me a heart attack."

The door opened to reveal the owner of the house. No, not her friend Saten, but the girl's mother, Kiyama Harumi.

"Ruiko, stop scaring your friends when they visit." The woman chided without missing a beat, before turning to Mikoto. "Hello, Misaka-san."

"I just wanted to see who it was, Kaa-san." Saten said, trying to pout.

"A likely story." The perpetually tired looking scientist said with a shake of her head. "Now, why don't you be a good hostess and usher your friend inside."

"Please come in, Sempai."

"Sure." Mikoto nodded and slipped off her shoes as she entered the house, "Thank you."

"Would you like some tea?" Kiyama-sensei asked.

"No thank you, I just have a few questions for Saten."

Mikoto noticed that the house was surprisingly plain. It looked like a standard suburban home, it had a nice entryway that led directly into an open plan living room/kitchen combo and on one side there was a staircase that led to the upper floor.

"The labs are in the special underground basement." Saten said shooting Mikoto a smirk.

"Haha, good one." Mikoto playful tapped the girl's shoulder.

"She isn't joking." Kiyama-sensei replied, before she gestured to a nondescript section of wall behind the stairs. "The elevator down is behind a hidden panel over there."

 _Come on, what are they? Mad scientists?_

"We did carry out an illegal experiment earlier this year." Saten reminded her, even as she gestured for Mikoto to follow her upstairs.

[The Railgun] sputtered. _Is she somehow reading my mi-_

"No, your face is just very expressive." Saten informed the older girl even as her mother nodded in agreement, "How do you think Naru-san teases you so easily?"

"Grr, Baka-Chibi." Mikoto grumbled as the mere mention of the blonde had her thinking back to when she tried to ask her if she had any idea if there really were clones of her walking around.

[The Railgun] had even purchased some high-tier pastries to coax the glutton to talk, but Namikaze had remained tight lipped.

The blonde had even taunted her about it! Mikoto had been heartfelt in her request for help but she'd only replied, _"You think cake is enough to bribe me? Ha! Too naive, Sempai."_

 _And those sweets cost me my allowance for the week! I swear I'm going to get her back for that. Stupid little sweets vacuum._

"Honestly though," Saten ranted, apparently oblivious to Mikoto's distraction. "The underground labs were there first. We lived out of there for a while and if it was up to Kaa-san we still would be. I love her, but she's an utter cheapskate for things like this. If I hadn't insisted we at least pretend to be normal, we'd still be cave dwellers."

"Ouch." Mikoto winced, that wasn't ideal for Saten, not when the girl was slowly working to be more social. Thank goodness that Kiyama-sensei had enough sense to listen to her daugher.

"Yup, and then she, of course, decided to take 'pretending to be normal' too far and decided to make us look like mad scientists by putting our house directly on top of the labs and hide the entrance and everything."

"There's more mad scientist nonsense!?"

"You shouldn't scream in someone's home, Sempai. It's considered rude."

Mikoto glared at Saten's back, but continued to follow her after they reached the top of the stairs. The younger girl led her to a room that judging by the bookshelves that lined the walls was a study.

"Kiyama-sensei's?"

Saten just quirked a brow in amusement.

"No, her's is downstairs in the labs. This one is mine. While I have read most of the books here, they're really just for show when a client comes over."

Mikoto frowned at her, "So I'm a client?"

"No, you are a … friend." Saten replied, sounding almost shy. It only lasted a minute though, before a slightly teasing smirk spread across her face. "One who just happens to need my services."

"You are spending _way_ too much time with the Chibi."

The brunette shrugged and moved to take a seat in a wingback chair next to a small coffee table and facing another chair. "I happen to think she's a great influence."

"That's a scary thought, but okay." Mikoto smiled and sat down in the opposing chair.

"So I've gotta ask," The older girl frowned, twiddling her thumbs, "I-Is there an experiment involving clones? Mainly mine? There's been a few rumors lately and I'm worried."

"There _was_ an attempt to clone you, codenamed Project Radio Noise." Saten informed her without so much as freezing to check her database. Apparently she'd known what Mikoto had come to talk to her about and looked up the information beforehand. That thought was overshadowed by Mikoto balking at the idea that Saten _already_ knew about it and never brought it up, but she held her tongue so she could get as much information as possible.

She could settle this score with Saten once she'd gotten all the information she needed.

"You gave the researchers at the 7th Medical Research Center of Higuchi Pharmacies a DNA sample, under assumption that they would use it to help children who are living with muscular dystrophy, correct?"

Mikoto's hands tightened into fists, her arms visibly shaking, "Those bastards! They-They told me they wanted to help people. They showed me how they were going to-!"

"Use your powers to replicate bio-signs. They had you believe they could control the bioelectrical signal of the body and reroute it to a nerve signal network, meaning that children with the disease would be able to gain control of their muscles, thus allowing them to recover from their paralysis."

Saten shot her a look of pride, but it was tinted by a sense of sadness at how Mikoto's naivety had been exploited.

"Sempai, you're a kind and noble person. They simply exploited that to play you against yourself." Saten sighed, "A lot of scientists here have no morals whatsoever. I'm sorry you had to deal with such things as well."

"What were they going to do with my clones?"

"Create an army of Level 5s to sell to the highest bidder."

Mikoto clenched her fists to the point her knuckles turned white. She was starting to get why her friend had not told her any of this earlier. For all her lack of understanding about being a normal person, Saten was an exceptionally good friend and protective to a fault. She would not have wanted to upset her by letting her know this unless absolutely necessary.

 _I still deserved to know though!_

Saten noticed Mikoto's reaction and reached over to give her clenched fists a comforting squeeze. "Thankfully, the Tree Diagram's simulations showed that it was impossible to create a level 5 clone of you despite genetic manipulation and use of the Testament. As a result, the project was shut down."

"So they couldn't make the army they wanted after all." Mikoto said as she felt relief wash over her.

"Yes, the highest they could push the clones were Level 2."

Mikoto bit the bottom of her lip, "Are the clones still alive? I mean, it's not like they would k-kill them right?"

Saten looked away and said, "I'm can't say. There's a lot of details that I don't know yet."

"So we can work together to find out!" Mikoto smiled, if both of them tried to figure things out it would be a snap.

"I can't. I'm sorry, but I have a very important mission at the moment. Another of my friends is in trouble and I need to help him."

The Number 5 had a bewildered look, "Saten, this is a really big deal for me. I need help."

Saten visibly winced, "Accel needs me too."

"He's the Number 1, I think he can handle himself. Saten, please!" Mikoto stood up and made to grab her friend's hand. The girl pulled it away with a frown.

"Sempai, don't go making assumptions. He's powerful, but he can still be stupid. Now please leave. I have work to do and my time is precious."

Mikoto was hurt by that. Here she was, swallowing her pride and practically begging for help. And all Saten could do was say no.

 _She's not this blunt. Not even when she was [The Robot]. Even if she's really as busy as she says with helping the Number 1, she'd at least have offered some advice on how I can proceed. But this time… Is she hiding something?_

"Sate-" The older Tokiwadai student began trying to make her underclassman see reason, only to be interrupted by feeling her entire body shift, like she was being teleported by Kuroko. A moment later, she found herself outside Saten's house.

"-n. I-Hey!" Mikoto scowled, glaring at the front door. Fuming, [The Railgun] stomped her foot, "Fine! I'll do this myself then!"

Just then her shoes materialized in front of her. Growling at the very obvious sign that Saten wanted her gone, she hastily put on her shoes and stalked away. All the while, Mikoto rubbed her eye as she tried to bury how hurt she felt.

She'd get to the bottom of this, Mikoto swore it.

* * *

A few hours later found Mikoto randomly prowling the streets searching for any and all clues as to her clones. With no leads whatsoever, she'd gotten nowhere fast.

It came to the point that the Electromaster began hacking into the traffic cameras around the area in a bid to spot any lookalikes that might be in the area. Even this illegal move, something that she'd normally never do, unfortunately yielded nothing.

 _Damn it! If only one of the gang was free to help me._

Unfortunately, everyone was busy.

 _Uiharu-san and Kuroko were busy with their Judgment duties_. _The Chibi? She's off doing some photo shoot for the School Garden Chamber of Commerce. And I doubt Saten is going to lend a hand anytime soon. She's virtually become a recluse lately, only keeping in touch by still regularly calling Uiharu and the occasional hang out_. _._

Before this morning, Mikoto had honestly been starting to worry about her.

 _I shouldn't have. She was probably just busy 'helping' the Number 1. Like he needs it!_

 _Though whatever he's involved in and has got her so worried is definitely something big on - what did Namikaze and Saten, call it? Ah! Right. - the Dark Side,_ this realization had Mikoto worrying all over again. _I really hope she knows what she's doing. She better call for help if she needs it. Even if she pissed me off earlier, there's no way I'm letting her get in over her head and not help out._

 _Then again even if an Incident occurs, I'm sure Saten, or the Chibi if she was involved in something like that, probably won't even need my help. Whenever I do help, I always end up feeling like I'm a deadweight or relegated to the bench while they do the heavy lifting._

Feeling her frustration at the situation rise, she kicked a nearby can. Normally, there wouldn't be any litter in the City but the Level 5 had by now wandered into one of the few areas that dotted the City that served as the homes to the delinquent Skill-Outs. Here, the cleaner robots that usually kept the streets immaculate were a rare sight. In the no go zones such as this one, they and their security type brethren were liable to be damaged beyond repair at first sight and so the City's authorities rarely sent them there. Hence, contributing to the area's decline.

 _If I'm lucky, maybe some stupid Skill-Outs will try and pick a fight._ Mikoto fumed. She needed some means to vent.

Was it a barbaric idea? Sure, but what else could Mikoto do?

She was just contemplating perhaps actively hunting down some of the punks, when an odd sensation tickled at the Electromaster's electromagnetic senses. There was a nearby EM signature that was resonating oddly with her. It was almost a perfect duplicate of her own.

Mikoto was a total idiot.

 _Of course! If they're clones of me then they're Electromasters too! Meaning they have an EM signature and since their powers are based on my own, it's going be similar to mine._ The girl smiled and followed the sensation. _I've got a built in a radar to detect my own clones. Ha! Looks like I didn't need Saten after all._

Zeroing in on the signature, Mikoto quickly found an out of the way alleyway where a group of the area's many Skill-Outs were clustered around a girl in a Tokiwadai uniform.

"What's a lil thing like you doin' all the way out here by yourself, huh?" A sleazy voice asked.

Mikoto frowned, well there were the Skill-Outs she had been hoping for earlier.

A group of three delinquents had surrounded a girl that was identical to the Level 5 in nearly every way save for the odd looking goggles she wore atop her head.

"You should reconsider such actions before Misaka is forced to do harm upon you, Misaka implores." The clone told the Skill-Outs in an oddly emotionally muted tone that Mikoto never thought to hear from her own voice.

 _That sounds as almost as bad as Saten at her worst._ Mikoto noted with a slight shiver.

"Haha! Look at this guys, we've got a feisty one. Leave it to Tokiwadai to pump out these dumb lil Ojou-samas."

Mikoto's eye twitched, oh they were just asking for a beat down now.

"Oi! What do you jerks think you're doing?" [The Railgun] shouted as she entered the alleyway.

"Huh?" "Hey, it's a twin?" "Hehe, man we got all the luck!"

Electricity danced along Mikoto's forehead as one of the punks advanced on her.

"Why don't all of us-"

He never got a chance to continue as Mikoto fried him with a blast of electricity.

She was about to do the same to the other two, but they were already twitching on the ground. Victims of electric shocks as well.

"This was what Misaka warned you about, Misaka says with a sad sigh." The clone said, electricity dancing between her fingers and with not a sign of the aforementioned sigh.

"Greetings Onee-sama, Misaka says respectfully."

Mikoto frowned, unsure what to do now that she had actually managed to run into one of her clones.

"Eh, hello?"

* * *

A few minutes later, Mikoto and her clone were hanging out outside a convenience store. The Level 5 had no idea what to do now that she was confronted with her clone - did _anyone_ when faced with such a situation? - so had fallen back on what she'd normally do if she met a new friend while she explored the City's no-go zones: invite them to some drinks at the nearest store.

"Many thanks, Misaka says." The clone told her as she took the offered can of soft drink.

Mikoto resisted the urge to flinch. _Can't let her see how the whole 'Misaka says' thing is really weirding me out. Can't show weakness, not until I have firmer idea on whether I can trust her._

The Level 5 already felt a knot in her stomach at how the clones were created, she just hoped they were living with some sense of normalcy.

"So, uh, what are you doing in this part of town?" Mikoto asked uneasily, trying her best to word her questions in such a way that would not scare the clone off or make it seem like she was interrogating her.

 _Even if that's_ exactly _what I want to do._

"Misaka was on her way to the venue for an experiment, Misaka explains. Going through this area is the fastest way to reach where Misaka needed to go, Misaka offered with a sagely nod." The clone replied while staring at Mikoto with her characteristic detached expression.

"Um, right." Mikoto frowned, the knot in her gut twisted even more, "What experiment?"

"Classified, Misaka says with a secretive wink. By the way, Misaka asks curiously, did Onee-sama track me down by sensing Misaka's EM signature?"

Frowning at not being able to get the intel she wanted, Mikoto nevertheless nodded. "It was similar enough to my own that I just had to investigate. Now are you totally sure you can't tell me about this experiment you're involved in?"

"If Onee-sama is determined to know then she must first provide the necessary passphrase, Misaka informs. Onee-sama, what would you say in reply to 443679351261683? Misaka asks."

"Uh, random number generator?" Mikoto said, rubbing the back of her neck in thought.

The clone shook her head sadly. "It appears that Onee-sama does not possess the necessary clearance to access data on the experiment, Misaka informs Onee-sama sadly."

 _Is it related to the Dark Side? That means I've definitely got to figure out what's going on! Who knows what terrible things they are doing to the clones._

"Nothing? You can't tell me anything at all." [The Railgun] pressed, desperate for some clue.

"I cannot, Misaka says apologetically."

Mikoto frowned. "If you're not going to tell me then I guess I'll just need to figure things out on my own."

The blank faced clone showed a miniscule frown.

"Misaka cannot sway Onee-sama, Misaka sighs at her Onee-sama's rambunctious nature, but Misaka will warn Onee-sama that investigating the experiment is very dangerous."

"Yeah, yeah." Mikoto said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I'm a Level 5 though, so I think I can handle it."

The clone's frown just grew more pronounced. "Misaka thinks Onee-sama is underestimating the danger, Misaka insists."

Mikoto bristled, she wasn't some weakling. _I'm not second-rate. Saten just has a crazy ability._

She pushed her anger aside for the moment, the clone probably just didn't know how awesome she was. To distract herself, Misaka decided she needed to change the topic. Looking around, she found just the thing.

"Hey, you want to play some Gashapon?" Mikoto asked, gesturing to the coin-operated toy vending machines outside the store.

The clone just shrugged and Mikoto walked over to the nearest machine. Putting in some spare change she dug out of her pocket, she spun the knob and out popped a Gekota mascot badge.

"Wow! It must be my lucky day."

Suddenly hit by a moment of inspiration, Mikoto called out to the clone. "Hey, come over for a bit."

"What is it, Onee-sama? Misaka asks curiously."

Mikoto didn't reply, she just took the badge out of its capsule, threw it into the bin provided next to the machine and pinned the badge onto the clone.

"Help me model that." Mikoto explained, smiling at her own genius idea. "I want to see how it would look."

"It looks good, Misaka offers uncertainly." The clone replied, before pausing and continuing a second later. "Misaka just wishes it was not so lame, Misaka wishes to say but instead just sighs."

"Hey! If you don't like it then give it back!" Mikoto reached for it, but her hand was swatted away.

"Wha?" The Level 5 went to grab the badge once more, but her hand was again slapped away.

"No, Misaka earnestly refuses. The moment you attached it, ownership of this badge was transferred to Misaka, she insists. Oneesama's behaviour is robbery, Misaka complains. But nevertheless this is...this is the first present Misaka ever got from Onee-sama."

Mikoto was stunned by this. Was that genuine happiness she'd heard in the otherwise unemotional clone's voice? Over a simple mascot badge? All because it was something she gave her? Really?

Mikoto's heart melted at that and she scratched her top of her head shyly, "If you want it so much, I guess that's okay."

"Thank you Onee-sama, Misaka says with a broad smile." The clone replied, smiling tentatively.

"Alright, it's getting late," Mikoto said, observing that it was already dark outside, "I have to get back to my dorm. I, just be careful."

The clone said nothing, but offered a wave goodbye.

Walking away Mikoto couldn't help but be annoyed that she'd gotten so little out of the meeting but she couldn't do anything about it for now.

 _Well, at least I found out that the clones are good people._

* * *

As Mikoto walked back towards her dorm, she found herself glaring at her Gekota cellphone.

 _Just call her. I'm sure she's gotten over what happened this morning. Saten's too efficient to hold a petty grudge. Right?_

Swallowing her nerves, she dialed the info broker.

As it rang, the wait was almost agonizing.

" _Hello, Sempai."_ Saten answered, sounding mechanical in a way she rarely did nowadays.

 _Ok, so she might still be a little pissed._

"Saten!" Mikoto smiled with relief, "Hey, I um, I'm sorry about earlier. I was upset, and I can't stand what those guys did. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

There was a short pause on the line, as if Saten was considering whether to accept the apology.

 _Please do. I would really like your help right now. That and I hate the idea that we're fighting._

At long last, Saten replied. _"Apology accepted. Now, I know you didn't call me just to apologize. What is it that you want?"_

 _Efficient, much?_ Mikoto mused with a shake of her head at her friend's ability to switch gears so quickly.

"Alright, here goes. I need intel on a Dark Side experiment. I met a clone earlier and it's just a gut feeling, but they need my help. Please, Saten, can you help me?"

" _Sempai, you really shouldn't get involved with the Sisters. It's not something that you can handle."_

Mikoto gripped her phone tightly, "Sisters? Saten, h-how many of them are there? No, it doesn't matter. If they're involved with something, then that means I'm _already_ involved. So tell me, what's going on?"

" _I will not."_ Saten insisted. _"I will not let you just become another statistic."_

"S-Statistic?" Mikoto asked in a shaky breath. "Are you suggesting the clones are getting killed?"

Saten's lack of a reply was answer enough.

"Damn it, Saten! Tell me what's going on! I can save them!"

The knot was no longer in her stomach, instead the feeling had changed. It was now as if a giant hole had taken it's place.

" _Stay safe, Sempai."_ Saten said as she ended the call.

Mikoto gripped her phone so tightly that its frame creaked, but she didn't care, instead she hastily stuffed it into her pocket and turned around to dash after the clone.

 _Please, please let me find you! It's going to be alright, you're not going to be a statistic!_

* * *

Tracking down the clone a second time proved far easier than the hours long search she'd undertaken the first time. Honing in on the clone's EM signature, Mikoto made a beeline towards her. Pushing through the modest night crowds, the Tokiwadai Second Year was making good progress.

Just a few minutes into the hunt, she spotted the clone on the other side of a traffic crossing.

 _Lucky! The light is still green._

Breaking out into a sprint, Mikoto was determined to make it across before the light changed. She was part way across the street when the light changed without any warning.

The blare of a truck horn alerted the Electromaster of a possible collision. Reacting quickly, she called on her electromagnetism to pull herself across the crosswalk. Mikoto landed atop a street lamp. Below her, the truck sped by and the chestnut haired girl glared at the reckless driver.

"Geez! You could have killed me, you jerk! At least look out for pedestrians still crossing before hitting the accelerator."

Done venting, she took a moment to calm down and assess what just happened.

"That wasn't normal. Someone made that light change on me like that." She concluded with a frown. "Did the clone do it?"

Even if the clone's powers were a downgraded version of her own like Saten said it was, Mikoto knew they could probably still hack into a system as simple as that of the traffic light.

Jumping off the street light, Mikoto continued her search for the clone. Sadly, she was just drawing a bead on the clone's EM signature when another strange thing happened.

The beeps, whirrs and the grinding of wheels were the only warning that [The Railgun] got as she was suddenly surrounded by a large group of security robots.

"Hey, what? I didn't do anything wrong! The light changed on _me_!"

The security bots didn't seem to be acting like they should. Sure, she _had_ technically broken the City's rule about the use of powers in public spaces but that so many of the robots would respond was bizarre.

"Grr, get off me!" She shouted as the machines started to crowd her and forcibly push her in the opposite direction of the clone. Pissed, she released a electroshock wave that pushed them all away from her and shorted them out.

"The traffic light and now security robots? Both electronic systems… And there's only one person in the City famous for electronic manipulation on this scale besides myself." Mikoto reasoned with an angry glint in her eye. "Saten! Show yourself!"

The shuffling of items in a nearby alleyway had Mikoto turning towards it. Saten walked out, a mix of a frown and an angry expression on her face.

"Sempai, I keep telling you to let this matter go. If you don't, you're going to get hurt."

Mikoto shifted her body, tensing for a possible fight. Saten seemed to preparing for the same. The few people around them clearing as if under some kind of compulsion, almost certainly the [AIM Sovereign]'s doing,

"Is that a threat, Saten?"

The Number 3 shook her head, "No, but if I stop you it would be far better than the alternative."

"If this is such a big thing then help me stop it. Don't stop me instead!" Mikoto shouted at her. "And another thing, where do you get off making that decision for me?"

"Just like you stopped me, I'll stop you. The Dark Side is more dangerous than you can ever imagine, Sempai. I lost too much to it as is. I cannot in good conscience let you become a part of it. You shouldn't become like Naru-san and I. Please?"

"...I can't do that." Mikoto shook her head, "Not if I can do something to stop this. Now get out of my way!"

The Number 3 simply responded by raising a wall of barriers in what was fast becoming her trademark move in front of her, barring Mikoto's way.

"Saten, drop that right now." Mikoto hissed in warning, electricity arcing across her body.

The brunette just crossed her arms defiantly.

Growling in angry frustration, Mikoto sent a massive bolt of lightning streaking at the barriers. The roar of the electrical surge shattered windows all along the street and sent sparks flying everywhere, but the wall and Saten stood unfazed.

"Sempai, stop resisting and let me help you."

"Confining me isn't helping the situation!"

The Electromaster continued to fire her lightning bolts at the barrier even as she stealthily collected a sizable mass of iron sand on the other side. When she was confident that she'd gathered enough she shaped it into a whip and lashed out at Saten's unprotected back.

Or supposedly unprotected back. As moments before the whip would have struck, the metallic filings that made up her whip promptly transmuted into gas.

Saten just quirked an eyebrow at having seemingly effortlessly thwarted Mikoto's sneak attack.

Gritting her teeth, Mikoto realised that there was only one option left.

Fishing out one of her arcade tokens, she got into the iconic pose she adopted whenever she used the technique that had engendered her moniker.

"Step aside, Saten, or I'll really use it."

Her underclassman just shook her head, and doubled the thickness of her barrier.

The Number 3's resolve just hardened Mikoto's own. Sweeping aside the small amount of worry and hesitation that she was feeling, she flipped the arcade token into the air. As it came down, she flicked it with her thumb.

This sent the metallic coin into the powerful electromagnetic fields she'd crafted into a barrel around her, which in turn sent it hurtling through the air at thousands of miles per hour. As the token screeched through the air, its passage superheated the air around it and created a visible streak of plasma as it flew unerringly towards its target. This was her dreaded Railgun.

The sound of the irresistible force of Mikoto's technique hitting the immovable defense that Saten had set up was like a large bomb going off. All around them, things shattered just from the furious noise. Others were thrown into the air by the winds created by the explosive collision between the two forces.

It was punctuated however by the sound of shattering glass, as the imposing barrier shattered under the Number 5's powerful onslaught.

Saten staggered back from the shattering of her barrier. Barely allowing her the time to shake her head, Mikoto used her powers to enhance her stride - using electromagnetism to make each step she took into a leap - and rushed at her fellow Level 5.

"Sorry." Mikoto told her friend sincerely as she raised a fist coated in electricity to the brunette's temple.

The electricity jolted and sent Saten to the ground in a graceless heap, thankfully knocking her out.

Panting, Mikoto gained her second wind quickly and winced at what she had done to the girl. She quickly quashed her regrets. She had a job to do.

Saten would understand, Mikoto was certain of that.

* * *

Finally, Mikoto arrived in an empty railyard.

A distance away from her was the clone on the ground. She was missing her entire left leg from below her mid-thigh and blood dripped down her face and across her body from countless wounds. Despite that, she was dragging herself along the ground with a pained expression.

There a few feet away from her was the Gekota badge that Mikoto had given to the clone not even an hour ago.

Stalking behind her, with his hands in his pockets and giving off an air of boredom was a skinny teen with pale skin, moppy white hair and red eyes.

Even though she was too far away to be heard, Mikoto screamed with her all even as she sprinted towards the fi- no, execution, "Stay away from her!"

The clone reached for the badge.

The albino casually pulled a hand out of his pockets and touched a railcar as he passed.

Grasping the badge tightly, the clone held it to her chest as if it would offer some kind of protection. Or perhaps just solace in her final moments.

A second later, Mikoto could only look on helplessly as the railcar the boy had touched shot into the air and came crashing back down on the clone, crushing her.

Numbness washed over the Original as the albino scoffed.

"Ma, talk about pathetic. I thought this game was supposed to get harder?" He scratched his head and turned to see Mikoto, "What? Oh, two for one appointment this time?"

Game. Harder. Appointment. The words circled around in Mikoto's head but she couldn't puzzle out any meaning from them. Her mind was too consumed by one emotion that drowned everything else out.

Utter and complete rage.

"RARRRRR!" She roared to the heavens as a lightning bolt came down from the sky to strike the murderer.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless as always!**

 **Wow, talk about a thrilling chapter. Sure, some of the things were a rehash of canon, but I hope we put our own spin on it. It was enjoyable to write.**

 **Nameless: So begins the Sisters arc. We're trying to make it as original as possible, but since canon was so good in terms of Character Development for Mikoto we intend to borrow a lot of it. We'll still try to keep things interesting though with new twists on it, hopefully you won't be disappointed.**

 **Mikoto, my fav, you are going to be hurt. A lot in this arc. The mindset of being a second-rate Level 5 is going to settle into her head. Because Accel be fucking scary! Even as a cripple he has that same presence.**

 **Nameless: Oh, and some of you might be wondering what was Saten's deal with fighting Mikoto. As she said, she's trying to stop Mikoto from getting caught up in the Dark Side which is what will happen if she gets involved with the Level 6 Shift Project. Is she being overprotective and dismissing Mikoto's right to a choice? Hell, yeah. But she's really just returning the favour. Mikoto did the same to her during the Level Upper arc. Sometimes, friends have to butt their heads into their friend's business to keep them from doing stupid shit. At least good friends do.**

 **So… We had feedback that we need to tone it down with the CD (yes, we're sticking to this abbreviation. It's a pain to type out "character development" every damn time!). And we'll try. We honestly wrote this chapter and most of the next one before that feedback came in. As such, if it's too heavy handed still in these two chapters, please understand that it's from before we implemented the changes in line with the valid criticism.**

 **E4E: Well, you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you loved! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Fifteen: Sisterly Conferences**

 **Beta:**

* * *

Ruiko had been watching the nondescript apartment building in District 7 that housed Accel's dorm remotely for hours now, waiting for him to show up. It had taken up so much of her attention that she'd earned herself concerned and annoyed looks from her family that she'd been spending the day with. It had taken quite a few creative excuses to deflect their worries.

Finally though her patience paid off and the pseudo albino sauntered up to Room 313. Not letting the opportunity pass, she hastily made another hasty excuse and left the dinner table. She'd make it up to Kaa-san and her siblings later.

Before the most powerful Esper in the world could so much as reach for his front door, Ruiko teleported right next to him.

"Yo, Ruiko." The boy greeted, without even the slightest sign of surprise at her sudden appearance. He even seemed jovial, or as jovial as the murderous Number 1 got. "Nice of you to show up. Coffee?"

"Hello, Accel and sorry but no thanks."

"You sure? There's this great coffeeshop nearby." His tone turned teasing then, a rarity from the usually sombre boy. "We haven't hung out in ages."

"Only because you have been so busy lately with your Level 6 Shift experiment." Ruiko retorted, her eyes narrowed.

Without losing his happy mood, Accelerator smirked. "Took you long enough. You sure took your own sweet time figuring that out, didn't you? I mean, shouldn't you have figured that something was up when our joint trainings suddenly got cancelled?"

"I was preoccupied." Ruiko hedged. She didn't want to admit that she was too busy with Level Upper and then her burgeoning friendships with the Trinity gang to worry about her old friend.

 _And now look what happened._ Ruiko's mind traitorously reminded her.

"So I've heard. You've gotten into a lot of interesting stuff lately, haven't you?"

"I didn't come here to talk about me, Accel."

This seemed to irritate the boy. He scowled and crossed his arms. "So what are you here for then?"

"I need to know something. Accel, are you really okay with killing thousands of clones just to become a Level 6?"

"For Level 6 I'd do almost anything." Accel replied eagerly.

Ruiko wasn't buying it though. He had responded too quickly, too automatically. The Accel she knew had a tendency to react in two ways. Either with homicidal violence or with measured thought. When he shot back a reply without thinking, he was being insincere and was just parroting back what he either heard or what he thought the person he was talking to wanted to hear.

"I don't believe you." Ruiko replied with a shake of her head. "You're not as callous as you pretend. You don't kill without good reason."

"Who said I'm being callous? It's not like those clones are actually human." Accel replied leaning forward to get into Ruiko's personal space. A classic tactic of his when a conversation wasn't going his way. One meant to intimidate his opponent to hide the fact that he was feeling defensive.

That said, the Number 3 didn't think she would get anywhere trying to change his mind about the clones' humanity. Time for a slightly different tack.

"Even so, they are still sapient beings."

Again, Accel showed his own unease over the project as he dodged her point.

"When did you become such a bleeding heart?" He asked, his eyes narrowed. "Whatever! If you've come to be a nag then I have better things to do."

With that, he turned around and stalked off.

 _Running away from a debate he's lost? Typical Accel._ Ruiko noted with a fond shake of her head.

Her levity didn't last though, as she quickly grew serious again in the face of the situation.

 _From the looks of it at some level Accel knows that what he's doing is wrong but can't accept it._ Ruiko concluded. _Well, if that's the case then as his friend it's my job to help him be honest with himself and end this mess._

* * *

The memory faded back into the depths of her mind as a blurry eyed Ruiko regained consciousness. A second later, an eternity for her powerful mind, her eyes snapped wide open as she scrambled to her feet.

"Now isn't the time to be taking naps and taking trips down memory lane." The girl muttered as she dusted off her skirt.

Doing a quick scan of herself to check for any injuries from her Sempai's attack, she let out a sigh that was a mix of both relief and frustration.

"Good, I'm fine. Though, I cannot believe I let Sempai catch me so off guard." The AIM manipulator whined.

 _The output on her railgun is nothing to sneeze at. Next time, I should triple my barriers for such a blast._

"No, focus. You have to stop her from doing something foolish."

Shaking her head to clear it of such frivolous thoughts, the brunette got down to business. Stretching out her senses, she quickly pinpointed the Electromaster's AIM field. Alarmingly, there was another familiar one right next to where her Sempai was.

 _Shit! Please don't let me be too late!_

She was just about to teleport to the location when in the distance she saw a streak of plasma fly into the sky.

"No, Sempai!" Ruiko's worry intensified as she hurriedly finished the necessary computations for her teleport at the sight of the railgun. _Please let me be wrong. That it was some kind of coincidence and not a sign that Sempai is fighting Accel._

Rematerializing in the railyard, the Number 3 frowned at seeing Misaka-sempai on the ground and struggling to get to her feet with Accel standing a short distance away from her, laughing like a murderous loon.

"That's it? Man, I can't tell the difference between you and a clone! Guess they can't make all the Level 5s like the top ranks, huh?"

The jeer seemed to enrage the Number 5 as electricity danced along her body weakly.

"Maybe killing you will help fix that. Bye, weakling." The pseudo albino said as he moved forward with his finger extended.

Ruiko immediately placed a barrier between the two.

At the sight of it, the Number 1 paused. Turning to Ruiko he offered her a causal wave.

"Yo, Ruiko. You here to nag me again?" Accel asked, radiating annoyance. Though Ruiko could read the underlying sense of hope he had buried deep in it. It was betrayed by the look in his narrowed eyes, that while narrowed into slits also shone with a sense of pleading. Like he desperately hoped she would offer him the excuse he desperately wanted to quit this experiment.

 _Or maybe I'm just imagining it?_ As much as Ruiko hated to, she couldn't rule that out. She so desperately wanted Accel to see the light that she might be grasping at straws and making mountains out of molehills.

Unaware of her worries, and probably completely uninterested in them even if she did, her Sempai turned to her with a shocked look. Ruiko tried not to wince.

"Leave Misaka-sempai alone."

"Oh yeah?" He asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "Why should I?"

"Wait a moment," A voice called out from the shadows of the railyard, causing everyone to pause. "Unscheduled confrontations may cause deviations with simulation trajectories, warns Misaka."

All three Level 5s turned towards the voice and spotted dozens of the Sisters.

"Especially since Onee-sama and Saten-sama are Level 5s, deviations caused by battle would be particularly large thus it may not reduce the time required and even instead result in the failure of the project. Furthermore, Misaka have been tuned specifically for the currently scheduled experiments and modifying this schedule would be exceedingly difficult, persuades Misaka."

The clones spoke in turn, one picking up whenever another left off until their long monologue was complete. The whole thing was deeply unnerving.

"Tch," Accel clicked his tongue, "Whatever. Not like she was worth my time anyway."

He turned around and walked away.

After he had left, the clones immediately began cleaning up the scene of the grisly murder of one of their own.

"9995 to 10007 clean up the rails." The lead clone ordered. "Numbers 10008 to-

"What's wrong with all of you?" Misaka-sempai asked, horrified by what she'd gone through and what she was seeing. "This is wrong. Why are you in this experiment? You're going to get killed. I just don't get it."

The clones just looked at each other in confusion, not that Sempai noticed. She had collapsed to her knees and was clutching at the gravel of the trainyard in a desperate bid to recentre herself as her reality became completely unrecognizable.

"You're alive!" She shouted at the clones, her emotions getting the better of her. "You've got your entire life ahead of you! This is… Why… would you…"

"Misaka are copies created for the purposes of this project. We are artificial bodies with artificial hearts. At the cost of 180,000 yen each, we are nothing more than laboratory animals." The lead clone informed dispassionately, her words visibly affecting the original who flinched at every sentence. "Now, if you'll excuse-"

Walking over to her Sempai, Ruiko didn't let the clone finish, "Leave. Now."

The clones exchanged looks, before they heeded her warning. As one, all the clones left, with only a handful breaking off to collect what little remained of their deceased counterpart before following suit.

Throughout, her Sempai stayed where she was, trembling.

Once they were all gone, she raised her fist in the air and screamed, punching the ground as hard as she could.

"Why? Why didn't you tell me!" Misaka-sempai demanded from Ruiko, glaring heatedly at her.

The Number 3 looked down, "Telling you wouldn't have done any good. All it would do was get you killed if you tried something."

Before the older girl could continue to spit fire, Ruiko continued.

"The General Superintendent is backing this project. Do you think either of us has the means to stop him? The only one who could possibly talk to him would be Naru-san. And that's because she is on good terms with him."

"...But you still knew, you could have stopped him from-!" Her breath hitched, looking at the scene where the clone had been crushed into a smear. "You didn't though, did you? Why? Because he's your friend? That makes this okay? Why couldn't you fight him?"

The [Railgun] was growing hysterical, she was shouting and tears were streaming down her cheeks.

Ruiko couldn't make a retort to that, she shifted uncomfortably as the sobs of her sempai filled the air.

Pushing herself to her feet, staggering as she stood, Misaka-sempai stormed off in a hobble.

The younger girl was tempted to help, but held herself back. It was clear that her Sempai was very angry at her, as such doing so now would most likely cause the growing rift to widen even further between them.

"If you _won't_ do anything about it then fine, be a coward. Just stay in the background and look at your gossip instead of doing the right thing."

The words cut deep, making the brunette's heart twist.

 _The right thing, huh?_

Standing there alone in the railyard, Ruiko could not help but think back to somewhat simpler times. The time when Accel did the right thing for her and won her friendship.

* * *

 **~ Flashback ~**

It was yet another of Ruiko's seemingly unending training sessions. This time with the Number 1, Accelerator. She had one of these at least once a month, though usually that was increased to once a week if their schedules allowed for it. Apparently the scientists in charge of their Power Curriculum Programs thought it was very useful for the both of them.

How that was the case was beyond Ruiko. Especially since all it amounted to was her rotating through her powers and blasting away at the boy while he used his trademark redirection to deflect her attacks.

Supposedly this helped to stretch Ruiko's repertoire while also testing the limits of the Number 1's redirection, especially in regards to the more esoteric abilities that she had in her archive.

"Can't you try harder?" The boy taunted, as Ruiko's latest attack - a matter disruption wave - was deflected away from him by his automatic defense.

The ten year old girl didn't reply, she was too exhausted to do so.

She'd been tossing attacks at Accelerator for the better part of an hour already. Each of which required her to reshape sections of her AIM field to tap into one of the powers she'd recorded in her mind. A process that was tiring enough for her at the best of times, but which grew increasingly more so as she was tasked to do so in succession for an extended period of time without rest.

"Hey, are you even listen-"

Ruiko didn't catch what the higher ranked Level 5 was trying to say. The fatigue had finally caught up with her and her vision was blacking out. Even as she felt her knees buckle and her consciousness slipping away, she uttered not a sound.

 _I won't give them the satisfa-_

* * *

Ruiko woke up to the familiar environs of the medical bay of one of the labs she'd been assigned to. She'd been to them often enough for tests and injuries to recognize them all just from the view offered from lying on the beds as she awoke from unconsciousness.

As she instinctively scanned her surroundings, she noticed that there was one major difference in this instance compared to all the others. There was a person who wasn't a member of the medical staff waiting for her to wake up.

"You're awake." Accelerator stated the obvious, even as he sounded relieved.

"Affirmative." Ruiko acknowledged even as she pushed herself into a sitting position.

The boy frowned at her robotic response, but didn't mention it as he explained why he was there. "Just wanted to make sure my training partner hadn't died on me."

The brunette just nodded. The explanation was unasked for, but it helped answer some questions and more importantly… Ruiko couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth at his concern, despite his gruffness about it. It was the first sign of kindness she had gotten after awakening her powers.

"Thank you." The girl said in a voice so soft that she doubted the boy heard her.

 **~ Flashback End ~**

From then on, a friendship was forged. At least, she would describe it as such. It was her first in a long time.

 _Can I risk that?_ Ruiko wondered, her fists tightening, _Can I betray someone as important to me as Accel? Even if it's for his own good?_

* * *

The blonde member of the Trinity was currently in the _School Garden_ getting ready for a job. Naru was sitting in a chair, dressed in her school uniform as her makeup was done for her.

"And just a bit more powder." The aide told her as she dabbed the aforementioned powder on the girl's nose.

The photo shoot was part of a promotion campaign that the School Garden Chamber of Commerce was planning for the next year. As one of the main corporate partners to Tokiwadai and the other four schools that were at the heart of the gated community, each of the five major elite all-girl schools had graciously sent representatives for the shoot. The plan was to use the shots for an upcoming campaign to promote both the _Garden_ and key partner brands as well.

 _At least I can finally do something_ normal _for a change,_ Naru relaxed as the tissue was removed from her collar and she was told she was ready. Getting up, the blonde headed towards the photographer and crew.

 _After that last mission with Shutaura, I really need a break from the Dark Side for a while._ She thought as she curled one of her pigtails with her fingers. _I can only go through so much soul-searching once a month without going insane._

 _ **You mean you aren't already?**_ Her demonic tenant teased.

 _Shut up you!_ Naru shot back but without heat. She knew that he'd only needled her as a way to pull her away from the dark direction her thoughts were taking and she was thankful for his thoughtfulness. Not that she would ever tell him that.

Still, the young blonde couldn't help but feel a tinge of anger over being the only girl booked for the day. She had been secretly looking forward to meeting the girls from the other schools.

It was already the second day and they were nowhere to be seen.

 _Another privilege of a Level 5? Do they really think I want to be alone or something?_

Seeing the director pointing out instructions to the crew, Naru decided to speak up about it.

"Excuse me, Director."

As she approached the man, he turned to address her, "Yes, Namikaze-san?"

Smiling, Naru asked, "I was wondering where the other girls were? I thought it would be a group shoot."

"Let's see," The Director said as he referred to some notes. "We were planning to focus today's shoot entirely on you, since you're be the big face for the promotion. The group shots won't be until next week and only for a day, so don't worry. We won't eat into your schedule too much."

"Oh." Naru said, disappointed. She didn't let it show though. She was a professional after all.

What was she going to say? She had a pretty free and flexible schedule unless called for her other job. _I might as well just be an idol or something._

 _ **You'd corner the loli market.**_

Naru looked down at her petite frame, _Can you stop bringing that up. You sound like an old perv._

 _ **I blame your browser history.**_

Naru refused to fluster at the reminder.

"Namikaze-san, we're ready for you." One of the photography crew announced.

Regaining her composure, Naru followed the young woman to their chosen location. It was a particularly picturesque street of the _Garden_ that had been specially cordoned off and strung up with special lighting and other devices required in a professional photo shoot.

Following the instructions provided her, Naru casually walked down the street pretending to window shop while doing her best to show off the set of bracelets she'd been asked to promote. They were part of a new line of jewelry that one of the Chamber's most important members were launching soon apparently.

All around her, the many cameras kept snapping shots of her. The Director had informed her that the plan was to not have her model particular poses but rather carry out simple activities and then snap a ton of shots. He would select the best ones later. According to him this would make the photos more candid.

Walking down the street and doing as she was asked, Naru couldn't help but think about her situation. _It sucks! I'm so different from normal girls. I really want to be more like them._

Despite her sad line of thinking, she nevertheless projected a bright smile for the cameras.

 _ **You're damn good at pretending though.**_

 _Well, I wish I didn't have to!_ Naru whined even as she crossed her arms behind her back and leaned forward to look through a window curiously.

 _It doesn't help that I never went to a regular school either. I don't know how girls my age think._

Pulling away from the window, Naru continued the leisurely stroll down the street that the shoot required. Occasionally, she would stop to look into one random window or another and adjust or just play with her hair to show off the bracelets. All the while, she stewed internally at her situation.

"That's it for the street shots, Namikaze-san." The Director said suddenly, pulling Naru from her thoughts. "We got plenty of nice ones. Good job."

"Thank you," Naru replied with a smile, easily hiding her inner upset.

"Just speaking the truth." The Director said, before glancing at his watch. "Ah. The team in the library should have finished setting up by now. Let's not waste any time and head over now."

"Sure." Naru nodded, a little confused. Didn't they need to touch up her makeup and do a wardrobe check.

"We can do the touch up when we get there." The Director explained as he came over to escort the blonde. "It'll be more convenient for you that way. I want to avoid wasting your time if I can help it."

"That's thoughtful of you." Naru replied with a wooden smile. _More special treatment? Damn it!_

* * *

Half an hour later, the blonde could be found roaming the aisles of the _Garden_ 's public library. Though how public it was considering the exclusive nature of the community it served was a subject of debate. Her finger dragged across the spines of the books. Despite it being the digital age, physical books were still a thing in Academy City since some just preferred a book in their hands. That and many rare tomes had never been digitalized, though that was a problem that was quickly being remedied.

 _Awatsuki-chan, Wannai-chan and Kongou-chan can all talk about things that just fly over my head when they hang out in our room._ Naru thought as she pulled out a book on business management. Mustering up a curious gaze, she began to flip through it.

Nodding to herself as if the book was exactly what she was looking for, she strolled over to a nearby seat. Elegantly she sat down and began to skim the pages.

 _What do I know about the latest Boy Bands? I rarely listen to music. Geez I can be such a loser._ A sigh escaped her lips as the cameras stopped flashing.

 _ **Your friends know even less though, so what does that make them? I mean, I doubt that Uiharu girl keeps up with any of the latest trends outside of developments in computing or that the Teleporter knows much besides the City's latest crime news or-**_

 _Okay! I get it. I'm not a loser. But just because my friends are just as clueless about being normal doesn't mean I should be too!_

"I guess the library isn't really exciting, Namikaze-chan." The director said as he walked over. He reached for the book, which Naru offered him, and he handed it off to one of the aides, "The ice cream shop is all set, any flavor you want to use as we shoot?"

Naru smiled a bit, "A sundae alright?"

The director stroked his chin, "I don't see why not, but can we make it a banana split?"

"Deal."

* * *

"Ah." Naru said as she took a spoonful of the ice cream, her face glowing from the wonderful flavor.

 _If only hanging out with normal girls was as easy as just eating ice cream._

Inside her mind, Kurama radiated incredulity. _**You do know that's probably one of the weirdest analogies I've ever heard, right?**_

 _Doesn't make it less true. I mean, I feel like all I do is sit around and look pretty. I barely hold up conversations with them at times._

And yes, she knew full well how ironic that statement was considering her current situation.

"Perfect, get some more close ups. Come on, come on!" The director ordered and a squad of his subordinates rushed over to snap as many photos as they could.

"Just pretend we're not here, Namikaze-san." One of the photographers advised Naru as he and his cohorts hovered at the edge of her personal space and took their photos.

Taking his words to heart, not that she needed the reminder, Naru ignored them. Finished with her ice cream, she rested her elbows on the small metal table with her chin resting in her left palm. This put the bracelets on full display, while she adopted a distant look in her eyes as she focused on a passing cloud.

 _Heck, even Kongou-chan is better at being_ normal _. And we're pretty much the same at not getting anything that Awatsuki-chan and Wannai-chan talk about!_

"Alright, that was a perfect final shot. I hope you guys got it." The Director asked of his photographers, who all nodded. Turning to Naru, he said. "Namikaze-san, we're set for the next shoot. Head to wardrobe please. The next one is one of the sports themed ones."

Naru nodded as she stood up and left to change her clothes.

* * *

Dressed in the standard Tokiwadai gym uniform that consisted of a set of white shorts with blue trim and a similarly coloured sleeveless vest with the school's crest emblazoned over the right breast, Naru was at one of the _Garden_ 's basketball courts. While the area was mainly known for its shopping, it did function as the main recreational area for the five schools that were its main partners, as such it did also include an admittedly relatively small zone for sports.

"Basketball?" Naru asked the Director as she dribbled the ball in her hands.

"Sporty vibe to show off the new athletic footwear." He said, pointing at the very comfortable shoes the young girl was wearing.

"Alright, so I should just make some baskets and that's it?" She asked, holding the ball.

"Some jumping shots too. Just don't go _too_ high." He chuckled.

Naru just giggled politely at his poor joke.

"So should I start?"

"Go right ahead."

Nodding, Naru began dribbling the ball around the court.

 _This shoot is really turning out to be a bust._

Unaware of her distraction, the Director prompted her. "Take a shot Namikaze-san and jump a bit if you could."

Ignoring the man, her vulpine tagalong replied to her earlier thought. _**I wouldn't say that. It's been easy and it's gonna do your school a big service, isn't it? I'm sure you can leverage that in the future.**_

 _I don't care about any of that. I only agreed to this because there was a chance to meet some normal girls._ Naru rebutted as she lined up for a shot at the hoop. _I wanted to talk to them. To get the chance to maybe understand them better._

 _ **If you say so.**_

She made a shot, jumping just a little like the Director wanted. Her aim was true and the net swooshed as the ball fell through it before proceeding to bounce around the court. She was going to grab it, but another ball was tossed her way. An aide quickly got the first ball off the court.

 _Oh come on, I don't need this much pampering._

"Just another round of that, Namikaze-san, and then I think we're done."

 _At least I have the Trinity and the rest I guess._ Naru hummed as she ran up for a layup shot. _We're all weirdos in our own ways. Even Konori-sempai with her biker gang past and obsession with milk. But I guess I wouldn't have it any other way._

Naru dunked the ball into the hoop and landed lightly on the ground.

 _ **You fit right in with that crowd, don't you? So why complain? Admit it, you've got it good.**_

 _Fine. Fine._ Naru grudgingly admitting that she'd probably been worrying about nothing. _Thanks by the way for being such a bro today._

 _ **Not a problem. Besides it's just self-preservation, the more stable you are the better it is for me.**_ The fox told her with a shrug. _**So it's in my best interest to play counselor once in awhile.**_

 _...Yeah._ Naru said, unsure what to say to that.

Or how to feel.

"Perfect!" The Director exclaimed from the side of the court, catching Naru's attention. Looking over, she saw him examining the photos.

"Is that all for today?" Naru asked as she took the water bottle and towel that one of the aides handed to her.

Looking up, the Director nodded. "It is. Thank you so much for today, Namikaze-san. Why don't you get freshened up and head off. I'm sure you have other things to do."

Nodding, the blonde proceeded to do just that. Along the way, she offered her thanks to those on the site and went to change again.

Before the Number 2 could even shed her clothes, her phone rang.

 _Didn't I put it on silent? If it's ringing, then-_

 _ **Looks like your boss is calling.**_ Kurama said in a growl. He never liked Aleister, calling him a man of lies. Which of course he was, one didn't reach his position by being lily white. That fact didn't mollify the fox at all and he insisted that Crowley's lies would one day destroy him and her with him. Naru didn't think the Superintendent would let that happen, but knew she couldn't convince her tenant of it so they agreed to disagree on the matter.

"I know." Naru sighed as she answered it, "Hello, Superintendent. How can I help you?"

" _Hello, [Maniforce]. I just wanted to let you know about something rather_ interesting _I've heard recently about your little friend, Misaka Mikoto."_

Stilling, Naru's gaze widened in shock and worry. She knew that catching Aleister's eye was never a good thing. She could only wonder what her Baka-Sempai had done to deserve such treatment.

"What's going on." She said with a tight tone.

" _Nuh-uh, little one."_ The man perpetually floating in a test tube said, addressing her in a deliberately childish way. He had always done that whenever they had met up when she was younger, and still did when she stepped a toe out of line. Or, like now when he wanted her to play his little games for his own amusement. It reminded her that she would _always_ be a child in his eyes, nay, an infant and he could make her do whatever he wanted whether she liked it or not.

" _You'll have to figure this out on your own."_

With that, the most powerful man in the City hung up.

Cursing the man's penchant for sadistic games under her breath, the [Elemental Empress] quickly called the one other person she _knew_ would know what was going on.

"Come on, pick up, pick up." Naru muttered as the link clicked.

" _Yes, Naru-san?"_ Saten-chan answered, sounding exhausted.

"Where's Misaka-Sempai?"

" _Why do you ask?"_ Saten replied, sounding oddly cautious.

"So something did happen to her! The Superintendent just called me about it."

" _And he didn't say what exactly? Typical."_ The scorn in the other Level 5's tone was clear. It was no secret that the [AIM Sovereign] despised the City's leader. She blamed him, rightfully in Naru's opinion, for a lot of the shit she had been put through since she awoke her powers.

"Duh. Now what's going on? Don't you dare leave me in the dark."

" _You're being allowed to help?"_ Saten asked surprised. _"This is one of his pet projects. Why would he let you help shut it down?"_

"He didn't say I couldn't, so yeah I guess?" Naru replied, just as confused. "But we can worry about his reasons later, right now we need to help Sempai. So tell me what's going on."

" _I will. In fact, I was just about to call you to talk about Sempai."_ The other girl reassured her. _"Meet me in the Cafe down the block from your photoshoot. I'll explain everything there."_

"Right, just let me freshen up."

" _That's fine. I need another cup of coffee, or three, anyways."_ The info broker confessed with a audible yawn. _"See you in fifteen minutes?"_

"Yup." Naru agreed as she rushed off to get a quick shower and change, a sense of urgency fueling her every move.

* * *

The cafe where the two Level 5s met up was an inviting place from which flowed relaxing jazz music and warmth. Its patio, where the two girls had taken their seats, was an unremarkable affair with its grey stone floor and cafe tables, each with a green sun umbrella.

Saten-chan looked exhausted, like she hadn't slept in days. Her usually well taken care of hair was a mess, like she hadn't bothered to brush it in days; her uniform was crumpled; and there was the beginnings of bags under her eyes. Naru knew better though, her friend could withstand missing a few nights' sleep easily enough. She'd had more than enough practice with it while working on the Dark Side. No, what had her looking like this was a lot more serious than simple physical exhaustion.

The blonde listened intently as the [AIM Sovereign] outlined the details, between big gulps of her large cup of coffee, behind the Level 6 Shift experiment. How it essentially boiled down to the psychotic Number 1 brutally murdering thousands of Misaka-sempai's clones and worse yet how their hot headed but naive Sempai had blundered her way into the sick Dark Side experiment.

Naru was getting a good idea why Saten-chan was looking so ragged. The emotional turmoil her classmate must be going through as she was faced with two of her closest friends on opposing sides was eating into her. It wasn't helped in the slightest that all the while she was also trying to do the impossible and stop an experiment that had been authorized by the City's supreme ruler, Aleister Crowley, himself.

"You know, for all that processing power you have, you're an idiot right? You should have told me sooner!" Naru scolded the brunette with a frown.

Saten-chan just looked down at her coffee.

"You know how Sempai is. Do you think she's going to let this go? Geez! We're going to have to literally tie her down until it blows over."

The blonde took an angry sip from her smoothie. She looked at Saten-chan with accusing eyes. The other girl should have done far more to stop Misaka-sempai, it was only the logical thing to do when the opponent was Accelerator. However, it seems like logic went out the door for her friend whenever the Number 1 was concerned.

She was always ready to defend her old training partner's actions, no matter how heinous, whenever he came up when they talked. Which was surprisingly often, now that Naru thought about it.

It was like she was crushing on the albino or something.

Naru's blue eyes widened in realization.

"No… You-? Him! ...Dear lord, Saten-chan do you actually like him, like him?"

Saten-chan choked on her coffee, pounding her chest to help it go down.

"What?!"

The Number 2 glowered at her fellow Level 5.

"Oh my god, you do. That explains so much and it hurts my brain." The petite girl stroked her temples, trying to sooth the bomb that was just dropped on it. "The one time we need logical you most and you're smitten like, like a schoolgirl!"

"We are schoolgirls." Saten-chan pointed out, tilting her head in confusion. How she did so without awkwardness while blushing up a storm was something that baffled Naru.

"Not the point! Do note, that if we live through this, I will be teasing you thoroughly and ruthlessly for falling for that psycho."

"A-Alright."

Placing her hands on the table, Naru looked at the other girl sternly, "Now stop your fantasies and _think_. How are we going to fix this clusterfuck? Because Aleister isn't going to stop this. He starts projects for a reason."

Most of the time with a multitude of reasons, many of which were undisclosed, but Naru didn't understand what use the Superintendent wanted with pursuing a project that sounded like total horseshit.

How in the world did getting Accelerator to kill a bunch of low levelled clones push him into becoming a Level 6? It wasn't as if live combat improved one's level by a whole lot. If that was the case, both Saten-chan and herself, with their extensive combat records, would have been better candidates. It was not like either of them were _that_ far behind the Number 1 in terms of their potential. Or mostly the Number 3 since Naru was a Gemstone and they were generally not helped by the City's Power Curriculum Programme.

 _Great, now I have to look into what_ he's _planning. There goes a month of my life._

"It doesn't make sense." Naru said, giving voice to her doubts.

Saten-chan nodded. _So she noticed the holes in the experiment's logic too._

Even if the basic logic _had_ been sound, their Sempai's interference with the experiment so far should have tossed all of the Tree Diagram's calculations off and invalidated the project already. Plus with the massive calculator gone thanks to Imagine Breaker's antics, the figures could not be redone.

 _Aleister's motives are unknown and the scientists on the project are too blinded by the allure of Level 6 to even see their project is already a failure. And they think they're so smart. Idiots. All of them._

"Maybe we should just kill Accelerator. You can dampen him and I can just end it."

"No!" Saten-chan shouted as she pushed to her feet with a look of horror on her face.

Naru held her hands up to calm the brunette, "Relax, I'm joking, I'm joking! We won't kill your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend." Saten-chan shot back as she mechanically retook her seat. Her cheeks were burning again and she refused to meet the blonde's eyes though, so the blonde knew she'd struck close to home.

"Besides, I don't think we could even pull it off." Naru continued without missing a beat. Propping up her chin with her palm, she added, "Alone neither of us stand a chance."

"Even cooperating, our chances are slim. Our best strategy would be for you to focus on attacking while I disrupted his AIM field, but even then-"

"50/50?"

"Thereabouts. His vector manipulation is extremely difficult to interfere with and he can even use it to directly counter any attempts I make to disrupt his AIM."

Naru thought about what she could do and pursed her lips.

"If it comes to it, I do have an ace in the hole. I just need permission to use it."

Letting Kurama loose on Academy City was a big no-no. At least in his true form.

"If it's chakra-based, then it's pointless. Accel knows how to manipulate it so anything based on it will just be deflected just like any other attack."

"Yeah, yeah I know. Heh, maybe we can send Kakine at him."

"I tried. He refuses to get involved." Saten-chan confessed. "He says he's not ready yet."

Naru snorted, "Baby, you'd think he'd jump at the chance to prove he's better than all three of us by taking Accelerator down."

The taller girl just shrugged. "I can't say I understand the Number 4's reasons."

"By the way, I'm really surprised that you're seriously considering fighting him." Naru pointed out.

"All other options have been discarded. Unless drastic measures are taken, Accel will continue taking part in this farce of an experiment. And Misaka-sempai will attempt to stop him, getting herself killed in the process."

Leaning back in her chair, Naru looked up at the sky, "What a troublesome Sempai we have. Still, you're really resolved to fight him?"

Naru returned her gaze to Saten-chan, who in turn looked away. The rest of her body froze up like a statue.

In a mechanical whisper, she replied, "Answer inconclusive."

The Number 2 frowned. "You interfered knowing you had no options? That's not like you."

The other girl nodded robotically. "Inaction unacceptable."

 _And yet you can't bring yourself to do anything useful either._ Naru noted, her frown deepening. _And it's messing you up so badly that you're regressing back into [The Robot]. Just what the hell is your relationship with Accelerator? You obviously want him to be your boyfriend, yet you're willing to side with Sempai in this? Does that mean friendship is more important to you than romance? But you can't even think of fighting him! Argh! This-You're a total mess._

Why did love make things so complicated?

 _ **Because it's worth it?**_ Kurama suggested solemnly. _**If you love someone, no matter what you have to do for them, it will be worth it.**_

 _And how in the world do you know this?_ Naru thought back, shocked that the fox would say something like that.

 _ **Love is not exclusive to you humans.**_ The demon said with finality as he withdrew into the depths of Naru's mind, his presence radiating grief.

"Let's try something else." Naru said after taking a centring breath. The conversation, both with Saten-chan and her tenant, had thrown her for a loop and she needed a moment to recompose herself. "Outside of fighting him, I'm sure that with the two of us working together we can find an alternative."

* * *

In a nondescript conference room where the lights had been dimmed to the bare minimum, a quartet of men and a lone woman were holding a meeting. These five people were the project leaders of the Level 6 Shift experiment and they were holding a rare emergency meeting to deal with a unwelcome development.

"So it's finally happened, has it?" The woman opened the meeting. "The [Railgun] has found out about the experiment and has decided to try to shut it down."

"It was only a matter of time. The clones aren't exactly stealthy. With all the rumors about their existence spreading like wildfire as soon as we began the outdoor phase." A rake thin man that vaguely looked like a scarecrow said with a shake of his head.

A wizened old man scoffed. "It wasn't her learning of the clones or even of the experiment's details that is the problem. What I would like to know is how she discovered which labs are involved and all the other intelligence on our operations that she seems to have acquired."

"Are you getting senile in your old age, old man?" A teenaged boy asked with a derisive sneer. "Did you honestly expect to keep someone who can directly control the electrons our computers rely on to operate from prying the secrets from our databases? She just needed to know where and what to look for."

A cigar smoking man nodded, before adding his two cents. "That traitor Nunotaba didn't help matters either."

"She's betrayed us?" The woman asked with a frown.

"Yup," The teen replied, a cocky grin on his face. "Your little protege went rogue and blabbed everything she knew to Number 5. She couldn't even seem to wait. She showed up to tell her everything almost the moment the idiot middle schooler thought it was a good idea to butt her head into our business."

"Must you talk like that?" The old man asked, with a frown.

The teen just smirked, "You got a problem with how I talk, geezer?"

The old man's eyes narrowed dangerously, but before he could do anything, the smoker put a restraining hand on his shoulder and shook his head. At the same time, the living scarecrow decided to push the conversation along.

"Has she been dealt with?"

The smoker just nodded.

"That's one less worry at least." The woman said, though her subdued voice indicated she was not entirely happy with the result.

"Indeed," The oldest of the conference's participants said, having regained his cool. "Though Misaka Mikoto's actions remain a cause for concern and not only just because of what she alone can do to hamper our operations."

"You think the rest of the Trinity might step in to assist her?" The teen asked, his cocky attitude from earlier strangely muted.

The old man nodded. "I do. You have some history with them, do you not, young man? As part of your former partnership with Gensei's granddaughter?"

"Yes, and they'll come. We need to nip this problem in the bud before they do."

"You sound terrified of them." The tall thin man observed.

"The Number 2 is a wildcard most of the time, but she's Aleister's pet. We just need to get the man to tell her not to act." The smoker said after taking a long drag of his cigar. "The more worrying issue is with Number 3. She's already been hanging around the sites of the experiments trying to dissuade Accelerator from participating. Futilely, thankfully. If she chooses to be more proactive-"

"Then things could become untenable." The woman said with a frown. "Restraining Number 5 is doable. Costly, but still manageable. But a determined Number 3? Without the leverage her comatose siblings used to offer us?"

"We just need to scare Number 5 away. She's just a normal teenage girl compared to all the other unhinged Level 5s." The youngest of the project heads opined. "A little violence, and she'll run away with her tail between her legs."

"And you would know how to deal with teenagers best, wouldn't you?" The woman said with venom.

"What about ITEM?"

There were a few disgruntled sounds of disagreement.

"Sending a Level 5's team is expensive. And [Meltdowner] is prone to escalate things. She may attempt to take Misaka Mikoto's life."

The teenager paled at that. "If that happens, then the Number 2 and 3 won't rest till we're all dead."

"Then that will be a last resort. Let's hire a freelancer instead."

"Any recommendations?"

'There's this sniper, Ylva. She'll do the job." The teenager suggested.

"Didn't the [Laughing Joker] maim her?"

"She got prosthetics and if her last few jobs are any indication, is twice as deadly as before."

The older members of the conference looked at the teenager knowingly. It was the scarecrow that voiced their thoughts, "You seem awfully familiar with her."

To his credit the teenager didn't raise to the bait. "She has the experience and the skill we need. So what do you say?"

The others exchanged contemplative looks.

"Her experience with fighting Level 5s _should_ help greatly." The old man mused.

The rest of them nodded in turn.

"Then it's decided. I'll make the arrangements immediately." The smoker said at last. "If there's nothing else?"

Negative voices and gestures came in reply.

"Then we're adjourned."

* * *

 **Done and done, thanks to the team of Nameless as always.**

 **Now this was mostly a filler chapter, but I think we got a lot out of it.**

 **We touch on Saten and Accel's relationship and Naru picking up on it. Le gasp! Like, OMG Saten, you like that dude? Valley Girl voice~! With that brief moment of femininity out of me, I think the conflict with fighting your crush to stop him from being a psycho is a pretty big conflict for someone who latches onto whatever connections she had made in the past.**

 **Nameless: Yup, it is, Which is why Saten is just lost as hell at the moment. She honestly doesn't know what to do. She knows what she wants i.e. stop Accel from killing innocent people. Unfortunately, she doesn't know how to do that since her only option is something she can't bring herself to use.** _ **Then**_ **add in a suicidally reckless Sempai that as a friend she feels obliged to protect? When all this is tallied up, Ruiko is on the verge of a breakdown.**

 **And of course shady meetings in a shady office. With shady faces! Man, those director bastards are so full of themselves, freaking tools.**

 **Naru has some soul searching as she does her shoot, just imagine her in the Idol spin-off XD Still, this won't be the last of her pondering of such a thing. At least Kurama has some words to share, if only for his own preservation.**

 **Nameless: Is he just acting in the interests of his self-preservation here? Or is he helping out his mistress out a genuine feeling of camaraderie/loyalty? Or is it a little of both? Well, what do you guys think?**

 **Well you know what to do, smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Sixteen: Sister Ops**

 **Beta:**

* * *

The lab building's lobby was classy in the most strangely unclassy way possible. It had all the corporate taste for opulent items without the slightest touch of personality. The deep brown floor shined as well any polished glass. There were beautiful flowers, the perfect shade of orange to compliment the woody hues and creams. On closer inspection their stamens had been pulled to prevent even the pollen disturbing the perfect sheen on the mahogany pedestal tables.

The whole thing was so artifical, this deliberate attempt at being subtly sophisticated but without a hint of human connection. It would have normally unnerved Mikoto, but considering what the lab that was the building's anchor tenant was involved in, all she could feel was disgust. These monsters were trying to hide their ugly sides behind a veneer of refinement.

 _Well, for not much longer if I have anything to say about it._ The Electromaster vowed as she clenched her fists and sparks danced across her body.

Stepping into the lobby, she eyed the bank of elevators behind a fully automated reception desk/security checkpoint at the far side. _If I remember correctly, the lab is on the fifth floor._

A quick glance to a directory pinned to a wall confirmed that.

Her EM sense told the Number 5 that the room was full of security. Cameras, laser trip wires, pressure plates, and dozens of other devices. They all had one fatal flaw though, they were tied to a single _electronic_ monitoring system.

 _Cocky morons._ Mikoto thought as she casually manipulated the normally well regulated current running through the heavily insulated system to shut the whole thing down.

Pleased with how easy things were going, she began strolling across the lobby and sent a pulse of static to trigger the call mechanism of the computerised elevator control system.

The ding of the elevator made her smile.

The Level 5 was walking towards it confidently and was halfway there, when a gunshot rang out.

"Gah!" Mikoto cried out, even as she reacted as quickly as she could and jumped behind one of the nearby pillars that lined the lobby and held up a wraparound second floor balcony that overlooked the entryway. Hissing, the chestnut haired girl looked at the graze to her shoulder.

"Ow, ow, ow." Mikoto hissed as the wound bled freely and hurt like hell.

Falling back on her limited first aid training, she knew she had to close the wound.

 _I'll be damned if a little flesh wound like this slows me down!_ Mikoto thought to herself with determination. Summoning a modest, by her standards, electric charge around her fingers, she zapped the wound to cauterize it closed.

 _Why didn't my EM Sense pick up the shot? Or a shooter?_ Mikoto thought as the pain dulled. _Maybe some kind of shielded drone?_

Reaching out with her EM sense once more, she sought out the security system that she'd previously disabled. Specifically, the cameras.

 _There!_ Mikoto beamed at her luck. Like nearly every building in Academy City, there were always cameras. _Thank you- What!?_

Her surprise was warranted, as she noticed a detail that she'd overlooked when she'd shut down the security earlier. The cameras weren't tied to the systems at all. They weren't even working! Instead someone had rather ingeniously rigged up a complex internal circuit in the devices that gave the impression that they were working normally at first glance.

 _Are they just for show or- Ugh, I've been had!_ Mikoto wanted to scold herself for getting caught in this trap but also for somehow letting the enemy realise she was after them. They had to have known she was coming, it was the only way they'd have set up a trap so specifically tailored to fool her. She decided to save it for later though. Right now, she had to find a way through this lobby.

Without the cameras to spy through and her EM sense unable to pick up her attacker, Mikoto had no choice but to stick her head out from behind the pillar to try and figure out what was going on. Her head had barely peeked around the corner of the pillar when another shot came her way.

Fortunately, this time the [Railgun] was ready for it.

In a well practiced application of her electromagnetic manipulation, she rapidly shifted a mass of iron sand in front of her face. The middle schooler had spent the whole time she'd been taking cover secretly amassing the magnetic dust to use as a shield.

As the bullet flattened harmlessly against her protective screen, Mikoto smirked.

"You'll have to do a lot better than that, you bunch of sickos."

Confident that her defenses would hold, the [Railgun] exited her cover completely. The girl flicked her hand towards the direction where the shot came from and a bolt of electricity soared towards where she guessed the sniper was. As she did this, she manipulated the iron sand that made up her shield to move the remains of the bullet to her hand.

The small pellets fell into her waiting palm and she noticed something.

 _Plastic!?_ _Man, they were really prepared for me. Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ Mikoto scolded herself, but she wasn't going to back off. She had a mission, and the girl was going to get it _done_.

Keeping her iron sand wall up, Mikoto advanced towards the elevators. She'd let her overconfidence get the better of her once tonight already, she wasn't about to let it happen a second time.

She was twenty feet from her destination when dozens of gas canisters landed all around her. As gas filled the air, the middle schooler pulled her shirt up to cover her mouth.

That was when the majority of her iron sand disappeared from her EM sense. Strangely discolored and even hissing and popping in visible chemical reactions, the formerly metallic sand spilled to the ground and became useless to her.

 _It wasn't knockout gas?_ Mikoto's eyes widened, _It's some kind of chemical that affects the metallic filings in the sand!_

Arranging the meager remains of her iron sand into a much reduced shield, she made a mad dash for the cover of another pillar. It did little good as she was feet away from safety when she felt something pierce her leg.

Mikoto's eyes widened in pain as she tumbled forward onto her knees. Scrambling, she crawled behind the pillar, holding her injured leg.

 _That punched right through the shield._ Mikoto noted as she examined her wounded knee. _That means if the sniper wanted to, it could have killed me with that shot. Which means that they probably want me alive for some twisted experiment or something._

Anger bubbling within her, Mikoto charged electricity in her hand and flung it around her cover. The arcs of lightning forked across the lobby. It set the wooden furnishings on fire, smashed decorative pieces and fried the various flower arrangements. It did not however seem to hit the shooter.

 _Come on, where are you?_ Mikoto thought as she had no idea where the shooting was coming from. Whatever the sniper was using to keep itself - _It's gotta be a drone_ \- hidden was top notch and there wasn't even the slightest ping on her EM Senses. She was concentrating hard on futilely trying to pinpoint the enemy's location when suddenly said senses went crazy as multiple signatures filled the building.

 _Now what? Another attack?_

A familiar feeling was coming over the [Railgun], the same sensation she felt when she'd tried to go up against the Number 1.

 _No!_ Mikoto's eyes lit aflame, these guys weren't on _his_ level. And like hell would she let them stop her!

If they wanted to use petty tricks, then she needed to remind them what it meant to mess with a Level 5 through a display of raw power. _I might not be Accelerator, but I'm still a Level 5. Don't underestimate me!_

Electromagnetic energy coursing all around her, she sent a storm of lightning arcing around the pillar like a many headed hydra that struck at every single one of the dummy EM signatures that were messing with her senses all at once. In a single blinding moment, the decoys were destroyed and her senses cleared.

 _Didn't expect that I bet. Now where are_ you _?_

Her celebration was short-lived as another bullet - this time one of the bean bag variety - slammed into her side and sent her sprawling. There was no penetration this time, but there was still an intense perhaps even greater burst of pain. Clutching her side, the girl hissed as she shifted her position behind the pillar to get into cover that would protect her from the new direction of fire.

 _It repositioned while I took out the decoys? What the hell is it?_ The Level 5 questioned incredulously. _Either way, as much as I hate to admit it, I have no choice but to pull out the big guns._

Reaching out with her EM sense once more, she focused in on the faint magnetic signatures of the steel reinforcing bars embedded in the insulating concrete that held up the building. Concentrating hard, she 'pulled' on these metallic supports.

As her power took hold, the pillars cracked and groaned as they split open, the metallic supports ripped out of them. Without these important pieces of metal to strengthen the concrete and help them bear the weight of the building, the whole structure began to sway ominously.

"Survive this!" Mikoto roared, even as the six storey building collapsed around her.

* * *

It was the first time Mikoto had ever literally tore down a building. It felt oddly satisfying.

 _Great, now I'm acting like the Chibi._

Once she had ripped the metal supports out of the concrete, she had quickly shaped them into a protective shell to shield her from the rest of the debris and rubble of the collapsing structure.

Worming her way out of the remains of the collapsed building, Mikoto opened the shell and looked around her. The building had been reduced to a complete ruin, but that only added to her odd sense of accomplishment.

An evil place like this deserved it.

Stepping through the rubble, Mikoto saw a few electronics. That was probably normal, there were bound to be computers and such, but one or two were oddly out of place.

They were EM transmitters. _Probably the decoys from earlier._

The sound of scurrying caught her attention. Walking towards the source, she spotted the remains of a broken rifle made entirely out of plastic.

Mikoto frowned at the shattered weapon. _They_ really _were prepared for me, weren't they?_

A groan hit her ears and Mikoto turned to see a woman crawling out of the rubble. She was in some kind of powered suit, like Threstina's but sleeker. One thing that really caught her attention was that the woman emitted no EM signature, not even the low level ambient signal that regular humans gave off.

 _It must suppress her EM signature. Wait, is she missing an arm?_ Feeling vindictive, Mikoto pushed away any compassion she might have felt to the back of her mind for now and approached the woman with purpose.

Spotting something that looked like a mannequin's arm, Mikoto quickly reasoned that it was the woman's prosthetic.

 _No EM signature out of it either... Made out of ceramics, probably._ The [Railgun] observed curiously, but pushed that matter to the back of her mind too.

"Hey!" She called out to the crippled woman, climbing over some rubble. "You almost killed me, you psycho."

The woman dizzily got to her feet and just shook her head, pointing at Mikoto's shoulder.

Realizing the implication, the [Railgun] paled as she darted her eyes to her wounded shoulder.

 _She didn't miss at all, her shots were never meant to kill me._ A chill ran down her spine at that realization.

"Why didn't you kill me? Isn't that your job? Or were you trying to capture me for one of your sick experiments?"

The haggard woman's only reply came in a barely audible whisper, "Number 2."

Anger flared through the Number 5 at the realization that the only reason she hadn't been shot between the eyes was because her potential killer was afraid of her higher ranked friend.

Needing an outlet to unleash her brewing anger, Mikoto lashed out at the sniper. Hitting her with a powerful electric burst that had the woman writhing in silent agony before falling unconscious. Still not done, she reached out with her powers to magnetically grab hold of some of the rebars she'd ripped out of the concrete earlier and wrapped them around the woman as makeshift restraints.

"Damn you." The Number 5 cursed as she glared down at the knocked out woman. "Damn your employers. The lot of you are monsters."

For a moment, Mikoto was strongly tempted to go further. To return the bloody favor that the Level 6 Shift experiment had reaped on her innocent clones on this woman. As soon as the thought crossed her mind though, she recoiled from it.

 _No. I can't be like them._ Never _like them._ Ever _!_

* * *

"So your girlfriend failed." The elderly director gloatingly informed his teenaged counterpart as the directors of the Level 6 Shift project convened once more to discuss the latest development.

"Ylva's not my girlfriend." The youngest lab head replied automatically, his usually cocky demeanour muted. "And yes, you're right. She failed."

The other directors eyed the interaction with annoyed looks for a few minutes as the boy sulked and the elderly man preened at having got one over him. Eventually, the lanky man gave voice to their shared irritation. "Are you two done behaving like children?"

The two offenders nodded.

"Good." The cigar smoker acknowledged. "Then let's get down to business. Since the Number 5 has proven herself more of a threat than we expected, we'll need to escalate our response."

"Which means employing ITEM?" The woman cut in distastefully. "They are expensive."

"Do we have another option?"

"Unfortunately not."

"What about SCHOOL?"

Everyone looked at the old man who made that suggestion like he was going senile.

"They are even more expensive and unless you've forgotten we have specific orders to keep [Dark Matter] out of this unless absolutely necessary."

"It's not like he's their only asset." The elderly scientist said with a shrug. "But I get your point. ITEM it is."

"Any objections?"

There were none.

"Then I'll make it happen." The smoker said and stood. "This meeting is adjourned."

* * *

Naru rushed through the underground passageways of one the Level 6 Shift project's labs, moving so fast that she was practically a blur as she tried to find her very stupid Sempai.

She'd been worried about the Electromaster the whole day since she'd gotten the pre-dawn call from Saten telling her that someone had hired ITEM to deal with the older Level 5. After hearing that, she'd spent the whole morning trying to track her wayward Sempai down to talk some sense into her.

That sense of urgency had spiked when Saten had called her about ten minutes ago to tell her that the [Railgun] had engaged with the dangerous Dark Side outfit. Now, as she raced to save her older friend, the blonde couldn't have moved fast enough.

 _Come on you loud moron, make some nois-_ A loud boom echoed down a passageway and Naru halted her movements, _Thank you for being loud!_

Heading towards the source of the noise, the Number 2 found herself in a large underground room with a high domed ceiling.

Facing off in the center was Misaka-Sempai and the Number 6, Shizuri Mugino.

The [Meltdowner] was a tall young woman with a slender figure. She had long and soft tea-colored hair. Despite being on a covert mission, the older girl was dressed in fashionable clothing. In fact, she honestly looked more like a supermodel than the cold blooded assassin that she was.

In contrast, her schoolmate looked horrible. She was drenched in sweat and her whole body was scuffed up.

The Number 6 sauntered towards the Number 5 utterly confident in her victory, casually firing one of her particle beams at her opponent as she did.

Judging by how Misaka-Sempai only barely deflected the laser, she was running on fumes in regards to her reserves of electrical power too.

 _I've got to cut in. Now!_

Acting on that line of thinking, Naru leapt into the air and angled herself for a landing between the two. As she came in for a landing, she poured chakra into her feet such that upon contact with the ground, it shook violently and a dust cloud was thrown up.

She wanted their undivided attention and she had it. Now to use it.

"Do you two know what a pain this is? You sure do know how to give me more work, Sempai." Naru scolded Misaka lightly and glanced at her, seeing the dolls hovering behind her.

"Huh? Frenda-chan's here too?" The blonde cocked her head as she recognized the dolls. They were some of the preferred tools of one of her favorite fellow blondes. "How fun."

"[Maniforce], what are you doing here?" The oldest of the trio of deadly women asked, her tone radiating caution.

"Saving the day, stopping stupidity, and maybe getting a pedi later. You?"

"Stop fooling around!" Misaka-Sempai hissed. "Answer the damn question. Why are you here?"

Naru glared at her Sempai as she replied, "To stop you from being an idiot and getting killed. Do you know how worried Saten-chan and I are about you?" The older girl looked ready to say something, but Naru ignored her and kept going. "No, you don't, you just want to be a idiot and get yourself killed trying to do the impossible."

"Saten got you involved in this didn't she?" The Electromaster accused.

"Yeah," The blonde bobbed her head. "And a damn good thing she did too. Because Sempai? You're seriously a pain with the way that you're making enemies. Though she could really do with getting off her ass more. It's just not fair how she's making me do all the legwork. Needing to focus on her info gathering my booty! I bet she just didn't want to fight anyone, that coward."

Her Sempai just stared at her with a look of exasperation and annoyance. The Number 6 however just cleared her throat pointedly as Naru wound up her rant.

Deciding to humor the walking gun battery, Naru turned to the oldest of the three, "Oi, Mugino- _san_ , why don't you scamper off? I'm not in the mood to play nice."

The blonde shot Misaka-Sempai a dirty look at this, reminding her that she wasn't going to hold back with her either. At least not as much as she normally would have.

As expected the modelesque Level 5 took offense at Naru's dismissive tone and replied with a laser straight to her face.

Naru snorted as she fired off an arc of lightning. The bolt intercepted the laser mid-flight and diverted the blast upward into the ceiling.

"I wasn't kidding." The blonde said, her voice growing icy.

Mugino snarled at her, even as a soft gasp came from behind her.

 _Seriously!? She's surprised that I can manage that?_

"Since when did you have the control for that?" Misaka-Sempai breathed in shock.

"[Elemental Empress], duh. You think I sit around and do nothing?" Naru asked her, her blue eyes never leaving Mugino's.

"Idiot." [Meltdowner] commented, even as she gathered together four balls of plasma.

"Your maximum, huh? Finally getting serious?"

The petite blonde threw her arms forward and a storm of lightning forked from her just as four beams of pure annihilation surged forth from Mugino. As the lightning intercepted the destructive beams that shot forth from the plasma balls. The storm scattered the beams all over the area, save for near Naru and Misaka.

Having been thwarted, the oldest girl fumed. Not that Naru cared as she curiously looked around, "Where's the rest of your lil gaggle of groupies? I miss Frenda-chan, you know? I wanted to see if I can make her pee herself. Again."

Her tone of sheer childlike glee at the possibility of traumatizing someone caught even Naru off guard. It was an utterly vicious thing to say. In that moment, she realized how terrifyingly similar she was to Mugino, a known sadist.

Both of them were arrogant and bloodthirsty too.

"You little-!" Mugino's eyes dilated as she screamed and began to gather together a massive amount of plasma, "Stop talking nonsense and take me seriously, you **BRAT**!"

Naru had belittled Mugino by not taking her seriously several times in the past and she had never got this angry before. _So there's gotta be some reason that this time is special. Don't tell me that she's actually mad that I made fun of her teammate?_

Glancing at Mikoto, Naru frowned, _Guess that's another similarity between us. Both of us just can't be honest with ourselves and instead hide behind a mask. Geez, since when did two Dark Siders become so sappy?_

While the blonde was busy comparing herself to her opponent, the Number 6 was channeling her anger into focusing all the plasma she could gather into a single massive mass. As the plasma built into a massive, barely stable ball, she fired the whole volatile concentration as a single immense laser.

Yawning, at the one trick pony that was the Number 6. Naru released a powerful lightning bolt to deflect it. The collision of the two forces caused the building to shake and the discharge of electrical energy to surge through it's power systems which caused the lights to sputter before cutting out entirely.

With the lights out, Naru focused on her sense of sound to compensate. Through it, she heard the sound of dozens of objects hurtling overhead in the direction of her opponent.

 _Heh, leave it to Sempai to use the distraction to attack with those bomb dolls._

Multiple flashes of Mugino's lasers and explosions told Naru that Misaka-Sempai's sneak attack had failed.

Hearing the frustrated huffs and puffs, Naru smirked. _Though, it is a good idea. Now that [Melterdowner] is busy, it's the perfect time to end it._

Not letting the older woman recover, the blonde teleported behind her. Forming a large chakra mallet in her hand, she swung it in a bid to knock out the lower ranked Level 5.

To her surprise, Mugino whirled around with a cry of rage and fired another laser at Naru point blank, "Not this time!"

Teleporting to safety, Naru frowned at the sight that greeted her eyes as she rematerialized. In the glow of her plasma orbs, Mugino was sporting a deranged look of defiant anger.

The blonde wondered if she ever looked like that. Considering the similarities they shared, she might very well had…

A pit welled in her stomach, the mere thought didn't sit well with her.

 _I don't want that. I don't want to be like Mugino! I don't want to be a crazy sadist like her or wear a mask around my friends. They're the closest thing to family that I have._

Research. She had to find a way to fix this. She was sure that there was something in her manga and risque websites that could help her. She just needed to work harder to find it. There had to be!

Letting herself get distracted was a mistake though, as she realized when a worried cry from her Sempai brought her attention back to the fight at hand. Returning her focus to the world around her, she found herself faced with four lasers inches from reducing her into a bloody smear.

Thankfully, her tenant hadn't dropped his guard.

Just before the beams impacted, a sheen of dark red chakra poured out of her skin and encased her body.

"Namikaze!" Misaka-Sempai scrambled towards her, grabbing her shoulders to check the blonde, "Are you okay? Oh god, how did you- Say something?"

The blonde just sat on the ground stunned at the fact that she had let her guard down so much in a fight. So much so that she'd left herself open enough to be hit by a potentially lethal blow.

"Thanks, Kurama." Naru said aloud, confusing her Sempai.

 _ **In this world, you die, I die. And I want to live.**_

"Where did Number 6 go?" Naru asked, noticing that the laser shooting woman was missing.

"Huh?" Misaka-Sempai asked, as she whipped her head around. "She's gone?"

 _ **She ran away after firing off those lasers that almost killed you.**_

"Ah, so she ran away."

Naru frowned, she really wanted to pay the crazy woman back for almost killing her. Then again, perhaps it was for the best. She did have more important things to do right now.

 _I guess she gets a free pass this time._ Naru reasoned with a shrug. _She's most likely going to hole herself up somewhere until this blows over anyways and hunting her down would be a hassle._

 _ **Didn't you just promise yourself something?**_ Kurama reminded pointedly.

 _Opps. Can't change overnight._ Naru replied. _Besides she deserves it._

A burst of discontent was the only response from her tenant.

Ignoring him, she dusted off her uniform and turned to her Sempai.

"What's with this lone wolf shtick? You rant at Saten-chan about it, but now here you are acting like a hypocrite. We're here for you, both of us! Hell, even if you don't trust us, there's still Shirai-chan and Uiharu-chan!"

Grounding her teeth, Misaka-Sempai just released her and marched away, "I don't need _you_ to tell me how to do things! I'll fix this, I'll make them stop!"

"How? By blowing up a few labs?"

"If I take out all the labs involved-"

"Then they'll just find new ones! You aren't achieving anything doing this."

"You don't know that!" The older girl shouted back desperately.

"And you're in denial."

"Shut up! Shut up! Just get lost and let me do this. Please!"

Having enough of this, Naru decided the kid gloves were off.

"Sempai, this is for your own good. Sorry." The blonde declared as she charged at her friend, her miraculously still intact chakra mallet poised and ready to knock some sense into the other girl.

Misaka-Sempai eyes widened as she fumbled back, "What the-!" Quickly, using her powers, she threw whatever debris that her diminished powers could grab a hold of at the blonde.

Naru danced around, ducking over and sliding under assorted pieces of rebar and metal sheets with ease.

"Sempai, you're out of gas, stop making this harder for yourself."

The blue eyed girl's gentle scolding didn't seem appreciated as she closed the distance in a flash. Not one to simply 'give up', the chestnut haired girl instead just tried harder to hit Naru by increasing the volume of rubble she was hurling at the blonde.

Even when that failed and the [Maniforce] finally closed to close combat range, the [Railgun] still refused to surrender. Instead, she grabbed a loose piece of rebar and brandished it as a makeshift sword.

"Really? You're no swordswoman, Sempai." The Number 2 stated as her mallet shifted into a katana. She took a step forward and her Sempai inched back.

"Stop talking to me like I'm a child, Namikaze!"

"Then stop acting like one!" Naru shouted in kind, moving in close with a burst of speed.

The tired out Level 5 swung her makeshift sword gracelessly at her kohai and was easily parried. This left the older girl completely open, but Naru didn't press the advantage, instead allowing her opponent to make another wild swing. Again the agent of the City, easily parried the unskilled swing. This time using more force with the blow than beforehand, she knocked the rebar out of the older girl's hands.

Pulling a small spray bottle out of her pocket, Naru pushed it right in front of the older girl's face. Pressing the nozzle, a fine red mist sprayed into her Sempai's face.

"Hey, bleh, wha-wha ish thish?" Misaka-Sempai asked while swaying on her feet.

"Speciality knockout gas. Works like a charm." Naru smirked, as her Sempai crumpled to the floor in a dead faint. "Nighty-Night."

Looking over her downed Sempai, Naru sighed and knelt down next to her. Poking her cheek in irritation, she said, "You are being such a pain. I can't believe that I have to resort to this. Stupid hypocrite Sempai. Now to implement the second part of the plan."

Since learning of what her idiot Sempai was up to, Naru had brainstormed with Saten on a way to keep the chestnut haired girl safe. After some hard thought they'd finally hit on an idea and now that they had secured Misaka-sempai, it was time to put into action.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, Naru teleported them out of the underground area.

To a _safer_ location.

* * *

 **Done and done, thanks to the team of Nameless as usual.**

 **Now there was some nice action. Mikoto going around destroying facilities and not expecting them to set a trap for her? Just wearing a hat and a regular outfit (probably bought with a card) to disguise herself? Idiot.**

 **Nameless: So we see the sniper from the Poltergeist arc again. The reasoning is simple. We've created an OC, let's not waste it and reduce them into a one appearance character. Not saying there aren't those running around, like the Level 6 Shift directors in this chapter, but it's something we're trying to avoid.**

 **Speaking of those directors. They were rather unlikable, weren't they? Especially that obnoxious teenaged guy? Well, that's wholly intentional. [Cheeky grin]**

 **E4E: Yes, because AC has so many smart kids who think they're all that. So why not make a little turd who thought the Level 6 Shift was an awesome idea. Welcome to Academy City; leave your morals at the gate.**

 **Nameless: So there's a few things to point out in the Mugino fight.**

 **Naru never took Mugino seriously, hence the lack of any serious offensive action by her.**

 **Naru spacing out multiple times during the fight is a combination of the previous point and the fact that our favourite loli blonde is still in an introspective mood after the last arc. I know we said we'd tone down the CD and we're trying but considering the circumstances in-story it would be odd to** _ **not**_ **have her still be somewhat reflective at the moment.**

 **Naru's assessment of Mugino's character is just that, hers. It is therefore obviously not entirely accurate even if there are elements of truth there.**

 **E4E: You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Seventeen: Grounded by my Sisters**

 **Beta:**

* * *

Mikoto's vision was blurry when she awoke. Groggily, she pushed herself up from the bed that she'd been lying on.

Rubbing her eyes and looking around, alertness filled her body as she sat up. Darting her eyes over her surroundings, she noted that she was in a white room with a single bed. Besides that the room was spartanly decorated, with only a small study table and accompanying chair. There was however a door to a small room that took up a corner of the otherwise perfectly square shaped main room that Mikoto reasoned led to a ensuite bathroom. The only other feature of note was another door, presumably the exit along the far side of the room from the bed.

More distressing than all that was the fact that the bed itself and all the furniture too seemed to be made of plastic and from what she could sense, there was nothing metallic at all in the room.

She had just finished with her observations when the exit opened and two people walked in who made her scowl.

Namikaze and Saten looked at her, one looking disappointed while the other smiled nervously.

"Where the hell am I?!"

At her demand, Saten spoke up, "We have placed you under house arrest in order to protect you, Misaka-Sempai. At least until we can put an end to the Level 6 Shift experiment. I hope you understand."

"You can't do this." Mikoto snarled at the two.

Namikaze put her hands on her hips and shook her twintailed head.

"This is Academy City, a lot of things happen that are against regular laws. Plenty of them pretty damn evil, this? This is a _good_ thing! Especially, if doing this stops you from being a _moron_. So I suggest that you get used to this room."

"Naru-san." Saten lightly scolded the shorter girl.

"No! She's acting like one and I'm calling her out on it."

Mikoto was not going to take being looked down on like this go. Jumping to her feet, she pushed into the blonde's personal space and demanded answers.

"Why the hell are you doing this? Are you on that murderer's side? Is that why you're not letting me put a stop to the experiment?"

"Putting a stop to the experiment!?" Namikaze scoffed as she forcibly pushed Mikoto back, causing her to stumble a few steps. "Do you honestly think your recklessness was doing any real good?"

"Of cour-"

"It wasn't." Saten cut in dispassionately. "Six. That's the number of labs you destroyed. As of the start of your rampage there were eight labs involved-."

"Then I need to destroy only two mo-"

"Let Saten-chan finish."

Saten nodded a thanks to Naru and continued. "Right now, there are twenty nine labs."

Mikoto collapsed back onto the bed in shock at the news. _But that means-_

"Your efforts, Sempai, has been worse than worthless. They have been counterproductive." Saten delivered her judgment with all the mechanical surety of one of the greatest minds in the City.

"I don't believe it." Mikoto whispered to herself, even as she shook her head in denial.

Namikaze snorted at the display of weakness and proceeded to add salt to the wound. "This was an experiment for the achievement of Level 6. Did you think they wouldn't make more labs? That there wouldn't be dozens of labs chomping at the bit to join in? That they would stop just because a few labs got taken out? No, these are unethical scientists that will do whatever it takes to get what they want. Even taking you down if they have to."

Mikoto held a hand over her mouth, as she fought to keep from throwing up. The revelation of what she was up against was making her feel sick to her stomach.

"And to top it off, you got the attention of my _boss_ , the General Superintendent. That? That is how serious it's become."

The second year middle schooler paled at that. Even she knew how dangerous it was to earn the attention of the mysterious ruler of the City.

The blonde had no sympathy for her though, and ploughed on. "And now here we are, where you will stay and we will clean up your mess."

"Naru-san!" Saten hissed at her.

"It-It's _my_ life!" Mikoto shouted at the girls, her fists white knuckled. "I get to decide what to do wi-"

Before she knew it, her blonde kohai had slapped her.

Even the petite girl seemed surprised by her own actions.

"No. Getting yourself killed will do nothing! And you will, if you keep interfering. Sooner rather than later, the higher ups will hire someone you _can't_ beat to take care of you. So. Stop. Being. Stupid!" The short girl shouted as she threw her hands up into the air, and turned around with an aggravated huff.

"I said almost the same thing you just did during the Level Upper Incident and you stepped in to stop me. This time it's my-"

Namikaze coughed meaningfully at that.

" _Our_ ," Saten corrected, "chance to return the favor."

"You two are real pains, but I guess I just have to keep better eyes on you." Namikaze shrugged with a mock sigh, "I'd be a bad friend if I didn't."

Frustration and depression washing over her, Mikoto just lashed out with a wordless cry. Her powers reacted accordingly and electricity arced out towards the other two girls.

However, before her electricity could strike the two, they teleported out.

Panting, Mikoto fell to her knees and punched the floor.

" _Sempai._ " Saten's voice echoed throughout the room." _Escape is futile. This room was specifically constructed out of Dark Matter to confine you. It and everything within are immune to electricity or electromagnetism. So your power cannot aid you. Also, every thing that could possibly be used as ammunition for your railgun has been stripped from the room."_

Fishing into her pockets, Mikoto confirmed that it was empty. Come to think of it, her clothes were different too. The outfit she was wearing now was lacking even the small metal pieces like fasteners or zippers typical to modern clothes. The humiliation and indignation of having been changed against her will would normally have made her furious but she was too overwhelmed by everything else at the moment to care.

Saten's voice paused for a moment, before she added.

" _Naru-san would like to add that we will let you out as soon as possible."_

As the turbulent emotions finally overcame her, tears began spilling from her eyes and she couldn't help but ask herself.

 _Why can't I do anything to stop this?_

* * *

Squaring her shoulders, Naru teleported inside The Windowless Building.

It had taken some time, days in fact, but the Number 2 had finally managed to gain an audience with Aleister.

Standing in the room where the man floated upside down in his testtube, she nervously fidgeted while he just smiled at her with amusement.

"Hello, Naru. You wanted to speak to me?"

Offering a stiff nod, the Esper said, "Yes. It's in regards to the Level 6 Shift experiment."

"Ah, so you did manage to find your little friend in time. That's good. You have so few of those."

Naru didn't comment on that, but instead asked, "How do I stop it? You and I both know that after Misaka-Sempai interfered, it altered the experiment, but it's still ongoing. That says something."

He cocked his head to the side, "Oh?"

"What are you really aiming for?" Naru mustered out, she was one of the few people in the City who even had an inkling to how this man thought. Yet it was still practically impossible to figure out why he does what he does.

All she received for her trouble was a delighted chuckle, which caused her to sigh.

"I figured as much." Eying him with seriousness, Naru asked, "How do I stop the experiment?"

Aleister gave a thoughtful hum, as if he didn't already know, and smiled at her.

"The experiment hinges on the Number 1 being assumed as the closest Esper to Level 6, which is measured in large part by the power and versatility of his ability. That being the case, all you need to do is disprove that fact by having him be defeated by a Level 0 and the whole project would be invalidated. And there's only one person in this City who might have a chance to do so."

"[Imagine Breaker]?" Naru breathed in shock. "Are you seriously willingly to risk him by making him fight Accelerator?"

The man in the test tube just gave her an amused smirk.

"You're serious? Really?" Naru asked, stunned by this development. "Do you honestly think he has a chance?"

"He will. Or not." Crowley shrugged. "It's a test. He'll pass or he'll fail, Either way, I'll adapt."

The Esper frowned, disturbed by her superior's nonchalance to the fate of one of his most important pawns. It said a lot of what level of concern he had for _her_ , someone which he considered far less important.

"The stage has already been set for the final act of this plan. Might as well aim to make it spectacular."

"Heh, so theatric of you." Naru commented but was inwardly pleased.

 _We have our solution, now it's just a matter of getting him to agree._

* * *

It wasn't hard to find [Imagine Breaker]. All Naru needed to do was teleport to his school. The unlucky young man was always stuck in one supplementary or remedial lesson or other due to his notoriously bad luck.

The Number 2 timed her arrival perfectly, so that she arrived just as he left his extra lesson for the day.

"Kamijou Touma." The Level 5 called out as she walked up to him even as he and his classmates streamed out of the classroom.

"Wha? Kami-yan does it again!" Tsuchimikado grinned broadly, elbowing the black haired boy, "Finally seeing the light for the imouto types huh?"

"Kami-yan, you kept a gem like this hidden from us?" A blue haired boy cried out, "Just look at her? The twintails, the skirt, the exotic features!" He grabbed Kamijou by the shoulders, "Why do you have all the luck?!"

"Are you nuts? I don't even know her!" The [Imagine Breaker] stammered as he pushed the perverted teen away.

The girl just kicked her fellow blonde in the shin and hissed at him. "Shut up, you siscon."

Biting back a laugh, the Magician-Esper hybrid nodded.

"Kamijou-san, could I speak to you in private?"

"A confession?"

"Shut. Up." Both the perpetually unfortunate boy and loli girl punched the blue haired boy to the ground.

"You go to the same school as Biri-Biri, so you know her I guess?" Kamijou asked her once they'd gone somewhere slightly more private.

Naru bit the inside of her cheek to not laugh at the name. She had serious matters to discuss at the moment. She could milk this little tidbit of information for her amusement at a later date.

"Yeah and she needs your help with something big." The blonde told him sternly.

He knitted his brow and leaned forward to whisper, "Her sisters?"

 _What the-! Oh come on, how did_ he _stumble upon this? No, this makes it easier I guess._ She inwardly sighed, _How the clones messed this up is beyond me._

"Head to the Switchyard of the 17th School District at 8:30 PM, Japanese Standard Time. And be ready for a fight."

The young man just nodded. He didn't even so much as question the need for him to get involved.

 _What a weirdo._

"And a favor? Try not to die." Naru said as she began to fly away. As she did, a voice called out.

"God, thank you for the visage that is pure white panties!"

Naru's eyes widened as she turned around and zapped the blue haired pervert for even daring to look up!

After the perv was a lightly smoking unconscious heap, the Number 2 continued to head back to meet up with Saten.

They needed to plan.

* * *

"Uihauru!"

"Shirai-san!"

Kazari and her Judgement partner called out to each other as the latter climbed up the last few stairs to reach the floor where their Branch Office was located. Both girls weren't just exchanging greetings though, both radiated clear worry.

"You go first, Uiharu." Shirai-san said graciously, as she held open the office door to let Kazari in ahead of her. She always had such good manners. She didn't even really need to use the door, being able to teleport directly into the office, but nevertheless did so every time anyways because it was the proper thing to do.

"Thank you, Shirai-san." Kazari said with a smile, as she entered the office and led the way to the break area. "Tea?"

"Of course." The Teleporter agreed. "So what has gotten you so worked up?"

"Has Misaka-san come home yet? I tried calling her, but no one is answering." Kazari said while puffing out her cheeks in frustration. "I even asked Saten-san if she could find her. She just told me that Misaka-san was alright and not to worry."

"Namikaze-san told me much the same when I asked for help as well." The tawny haired girl said as she took the cup of tea that the Level 1 offered her.

Kazari frowned at that.

"You think they might know something and can't tell us for some reason?"

"Or won't." Her partner suggested more uncharitably.

The computing genius had the irrational urge to jump to her best friend's defense and declare that she'd never do something like that but couldn't. Not when she knew full well that her friend _would_ do exactly that. She always had a tendency to resort to over the top solutions to things.

"You think we should look into whether they know anything?"

The Level 4 nodded. "It has been a couple days since Onee-sama disappeared and we have had no other leads. I think it is time to broaden our horizons."

Kazari gripped her tea cup tightly in indecision. After a moment, she took a steadying breath and nodded.

"I'll hack into Saten-san's database and see if she's hiding anything." The flower crown wearing girl announced as she headed over to her work station, her grip on her cup still tight.

"I still cannot believe you are given such free access to her servers." Shirai-san commented airily.

"I don't." Kazari explained as she booted up her computers. "I was serious when I said I had to hack in. I have some access, but most of the stuff is behind secure encryptions and firewalls ."

"...Uiharu, how much information have you been learning?"

"A. Lot." The computer wiz admitted. Saten-san had collected a truly phenomenal amount of information and even her limited access had let the young girl learn a great deal about the true nature of the City. It had been occasionally disturbing reading, but was overall very enlightening.

"I see." Her partner replied uneasily. "You'll have to tell me what you have learned in the future."

"No. You really don't want me to." Kazari deadpanned, her digits flying along her keyboard.

"Change of topic." The Tokiwadai student suggested, which made the Level 1 thankful. "Will Saten-san notice your hacking?"

"Probably not." Kazari confidently declared. "She has immense processing power and this gives her a great advantage at manipulating computers, but she's not very skilled and tends to favor brute force approaches. So as long as I'm careful in covering my tracks, she won't even notice for some time."

"How long?"

"Until she does a full system scan." Kazari replied somewhat evasively.

"How long?" Shirai-san pressed.

"A day."

"...Level 5s." Shirai-san huffed as she leaned closer to the screen. "By the way, you seem awfully familiar with her system's vulnerabilities. Done this before?"

Kazari gave a mischievous little smile at that. "Sometimes. It's a little game Saten-san and I play. I try to hack in and she tries to notice. If she catches me I have to get her something and if I get in without getting caught she buys me dessert the next time we eat out together."

"My my, who knew Uiharu was such a troublemaker."

Kazari's ears turned red at that.

"I'm not!" She whined in defense for a moment before her attention was caught by a file she'd just accessed inside the secure sections of Saten-san's database.

"Huh," Kazari frowned as she typed a bit faster to more quickly break through the encryption on the file, "Saten-san has done some major spending that she's budgeted under her Power Curriculum Program."

"So?"

"So, it's located in District 11. Where that secret lab was during the Level Upper Incident? She told me that lab had been shut down."

"She reactivated it?"

"Yeah," Kazari nodded. "What's even more odd is that she's arranged for food to be delivered there. Themed bento lunches? Why would she buy those? She hates pre-packaged bentos!"

"What theme?"

"Give me a minute. I need to hunt down the receipt." The hacker said as she accessed another file, before replying in a shocked whisper. "Gekota."

"Onee-sama is there!" Shirai-san gasped, her twintails in a tizzy.

"Exactly, but why is she there in the first place?" The flower crown wearing girl pondered.

"It doesn't matter. Our priority is to get Onee-sama. Forthwith Uiharu!"

Kazari just cocked an eyebrow and shot her a weary smile. "So you want to walk into whatever is set up there without any intel? You do remember how much of a deathtrap it was last time, correct?"

"Fine. Just be quick about it. Onee-sama could be in trouble."

Kazari resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Seriously, if Saten-san was having food delivered for Misaka-san then the older girl was fine. At least fine enough that being patient enough to check ahead for any dangers was a good idea. But try telling that to her partner, she was so worked up that she was pacing the Office in agitation.

"The lab's funding is actually coming from an infusion by the City's Board of Directors."

"What?"

Ignoring the interruption, Kazari continued reading the document she'd just pulled up. "Apparently it's payment for services rendered in creating a countermeasure against Misaka-san and only one of several projects, of which Saten-san is involved in several, to develop such measures against all the Level 5s."

"Countermeasures? I mean, I can understand why after Saten-san went off the reservation. Nonetheless, we can worry about this at a later date. I think it is time to act, Uiharu."

"Forthwith?" Kazari's quirked her lip, despite the situation.

Shirai-san nodded, "Indeed."

With that, the girl teleported out of the 177th Branch Office.

* * *

Locked up in the fancy cell that Saten had cooked up for her, Mikoto had few things she could do. One was the daily necessities: eat, sleep, shower, etc. At least, her two baka kohai had the decency to provide her with replacement clothing, good, non-magnetic toiletries and her favorite Gekota bentos for her meals. She loved the simple yet tasty meals, but having them for every meal for two days straight was making even her start to grow bored of it.

 _Baka-Usagi, these were probably her idea._ Mikoto thought bitterly. Oh! How she wished she could strangle the dumb blonde.

Unfortunately, considering her situation thinking about it was about all she could do. That being the only other thing she could manage in the cell.

It was so quiet and bleak that Mikoto was starting to lose her mind.

Banging her head back into the bed, the girl held the pillow tightly. Sobs escaped her throat, as she recalled the fact that as of this evening 10031 clones had been massacred as a result of the sick experiment. The grim number having been delivered to her by Saten when she'd asked the girl when she'd brought dinner earlier.

 _Was it really all for nothing?_ The [Railgun] blinked out a few frustrated tears. _Is there really no way to save them?_

With a miserable wail, she burst into another of the innumerable crying fits she'd fallen into since her confinement.

 _And that damn [Robot]!_ Mikoto raged, her emotions switching tack as she finished crying herself out. _She doesn't even understand why I'm upset that thousands of innocent clones are dead! Even had the gall to tell me the number didn't matter!_

At least the Chibi didn't have the tact of a processor, but she'd seen neither hide or hair of that bundle of annoyance since she was locked up. It seemed after capturing her, the blonde had washed her hands of her. Some friend _she_ was.

"Damn traitors, the pair of them!" Mikoto shouted as she punched the wall hard over her head, bruising her knuckles against the ultra hard material for her trouble.

Hissing at the pain, she glanced at her bloodied knuckle and watched her blood drip down her hand.

"Pain? What right do I have to be whining about a little pain like this when I've killed thousands?"

 _Thousands… Worse, they don't even care that they are being killed. Just look at all those clones showing up just to clean up after one died as if it was the natural order of things. Horrible._

As the scene ran through her mind once more, Mikoto frowned as one line in particular struck a chord with her.

" _We are artificial bodies with artificial hearts. At the cost of 180,000 yen each, we are nothing more than laboratory animals."_

They had called themselves nothing more than lab animals! And were completely accepting of their fate, and it was all her fault!

She was about to break out into another round of sobbing when she caught sight of the stack of documents detailing the minutiae of the project that Saten had passed her at her request yesterday.

 _According to that, I'm no match for Accelerator. Tree Diagram predicts that he'll only need 185 moves to defeat me._ An idea, a terribly appealing one slowly began to come together in her mind. _But what if I'm not even worth that much? Like say, if I were to lose after the first move? Then that prediction would be proven false. What if that made the researchers doubt the project? Or even just the validity of the simulations? That would be enough wouldn't it?_

 _That's it!_ Mikoto thought with an insane glint in her eyes, "If I do that. I-I can stop it."

If Accelerator killed her, the experiment would be ruined.

 _Finally! Finally I have a way to save the clones._

* * *

"Any active defenses?" Kuroko asked her partner over the phone as she cautiously pushed open the door to the lab building, which at a glance had clearly been refurbished. The holes in the walls and ceiling from the Level Upper Incident had been patched and it had even gotten a fresh coat of paint.

Goosebumps ran up Kuroko's arms at revisiting this lab. It was one of the most harrowing experiences in her Judgement career. She was just glad that Uiharu couldn't see her, she did not want to consider how embarassing looking terrified in front of her partner would be.

" _Nothing that I can see."_ Uiharu replied, the sound of her fingers flying over her keyboard echoing in the background as she hacked deeper and deeper into Saten-san's systems. _"Though there might be something completely off the grid. So be careful."_

"I'm always careful." Kuroko said as she walked into the building and was greeted with a strange sight.

There sitting in the centre of the loading/unloading bay that was the majority of the subterranean lab's ground floor was a single large white cube.

"Hm." Kuroko hummed as she walked up to it steadily.

" _Found something?"_

"A massive cube of some kind. It is just sitting here on the ground floor."

" _...They wouldn't? Would they?"_

"What are you talk-Onee-sama!"

" _Yeah, it's a prison cell."_ Uiharu confirmed. _"One made of Dark Matter that's specially designed to be immune to all electromagnetic effects thus making it the perfect cage for Misaka-san."_

"I'm giving those two such a tongue lashing over this. Oh, I doubt I can just teleport in there. Uiharu, do you have any ideas?"

She heard a thoughtful hum as her partner pondered the situation for a moment before replying, _"It's designed to hold Misaka-san, so you should be able to teleport in just fine."_

"Give me the interior plans. I need to be precise." Kuroko demanded, even as she hurriedly pulled out a pen and her notepad from her field operations kit.

" _Here you are."_ Uiharu dutifully replied and Kuroko ripped her phone from her ear and quickly memorized the plans she was sent.

Putting her phone back to her ear, she quickly scribbled a note on a page of her pad telling Onee-sama to clear the spot she was aiming for and giving her a five minutes lead. Ripping it out, she teleported the piece of paper just below the central light fixture inside so that as it fell to the floor the shadow it cast would be especially attention grabbing.

"Five minutes till I go in." Kuroko informed her partner.

" _Relax, Shirai-san. I'm sure Misaka-san is fine."_

Kuroko didn't bother pointing out that being kidnapped and confined against her will was plenty far from fine. Instead, she just waited impatiently for the five minutes to elapse. Once it had, Kuroko concentrated and teleported inside.

There she was, her glorious Onee-sama… surrounded by finished Gekota bento boxes.

Nonetheless!

She looked every bit the princess that she was!

"Kuroko!" The Level 5 cried out and pulled her into a tight up.

 _Onee-sama! Kuroko, Kuroko's heart is melting!_ The Level 4 was in heaven, nothing on earth could possibly ruin this moment.

Now being held at arm's length, her darling Onee-sama demanded, "What's the time and date."

"Onee-sama, I-"

"Now!"

Well, that moment was ruined. Though, now that she looked at her roommate, the chestnut haired girl was manic looking.

"August twenty first, around eight thirty or so."

Her breath hitching, her Onee-sama shook her shoulders violently, "Exactly, Kuroko, what's the exact time?"

Blinking in confusion, but complying with the request anyway, Kuroko checked her phone. "8:35 p.m."

"Crap! You need to get me to the Seventeenth District Railway Switchyard this instant."

"O-Of course! Whatever you need."

"Hurry, Kuroko! Hurry!" The Level 5 demanded as she gripped the Teleporter's arm with a vice grip.

Wincing from Onee-sama's grip, she teleported them into the sky above the lab.

Looking around to get her bearings, Kuroko quickly began to rapidly teleport towards the 17th District and whatever emergency that had Onee-sama so frantic.

* * *

The Seventeenth District Railway Switchyard was usually nothing more than one of the City's dozen or so unseen railway hubs, where the less commuter-centric parts of rail operations took place. Things like maintenance, cargo loading, etc. It therefore paid little regard to aesthetics and was nothing more than a patch of earth filled with many storey high stacks of shipping containers waiting to be loaded onto the City's trains and shipped out. These were organized in a maze like pattern discernible only to the staff and the computer system that ran the place.

Tonight however, the yard had been transformed into a battlefield.

On one side, were the two most highly ranked female Espers in the world: [Maniforce] Namikaze Naru and [Multi-Skill] Saten Ruiko. They were putting on a poor showing though as they remained on the defensive and had their hands full just doing their very best avoiding their opponent's attacks.

Just who was able to put these two powerful Level 5s on such a backfoot? Well, none other than _the_ most powerful Esper in the world, Accelerator.

It was to the scene of said young man tossing a dozen shipping containers at the two Tokiwadai classmates that Mikoto and Kuroko witnessed as they finally reached their destination.

Acting quickly, Mikoto reached out with her powers to grab hold of a nearby container of her own and sent it in an intercept course for those barreling down on her two kohai and a battered looking clone clutched in a princess carry by the blonde.

 _They're fighting him?_ Mikoto mused as her container safely knocked the others off course. _So they really_ were _trying to help._

A small part of her was saddened with how she treated them, but a larger part was still angry at being locked up.

"What on Earth? Who are they fighting? This level of combat is unacceptable!" Kuroko asked, completely confused by the situation which was understandable since she was likely clueless about what was going on.

Whatever answer Mikoto might have given her was interrupted as the albino psycho began ranting.

"Ruiko!" He called out to his old friend, ignoring everyone else to level a glare at the aforementioned raven haired girl.

"Oi, Saten-chan. Hold him back." The Chibi called out as she leapt back several yards.

"Why are you betraying me? Huh?" The crazy continued shouting. "Stop interfering with my road!"

"Accel, listen to me. I'm not betraying you." Saten pleaded in the mechanical voice that she fell back into when she was stressed, even as she spread her arms wide to shield Namikaze and the clone.

"Then what the hell do you call this?!"

"Trying to help you see that you've gone astray."

"Onee-sama, what is going on?!"

Mikoto simply said, "Not now, Kuroko."

"You don't even believe the bullshit you're spouting!" The Number 1 exclaimed with a look of utter fury plastered on his face. "You always stare at people dead eyed when you're lying and you've been doing that the whole time since you started being a bloody busybody."

"Negative." Saten said robotically even as she vigorously shook her head.

"Liar." The young man hissed as he sent a massive spiraling gust at the Number 3.

Saten raised a shield but it faltered under the fury of the squall unleashed by the Number 1, but thankfully a large wall of earth rose up and defended her.

"Hey Shithead! Stop acting like a psycho for five seconds, will you!" Namikaze shouted at the lunatic Number 1. The clone was leaning on her shoulder as the blonde held her palm to the ground.

Mikoto looked down at one of the various railways that crisscrossed through the yard and used her electro-magnetism to pull several bolts that held the tracks down free.

Tossing one such bolt into the air, Mikoto charged her hand and punched it. Her railgun fired right at Accelerator at a much higher level of power than usual -due to her ammo- but was nevertheless effortlessly deflected.

"Huh?" The red eyed psychopath turned towards Mikoto, "Tch, you're here again? You a dumbass or something? I've got no time for pests."

Mikoto could only shout at her friends, "Fight him seriously already you morons!"

And with that, a battle of the Level 5s had begun.

* * *

 **Done and done. Man, kind of a short chapter but still, thanks to the team of Nameless as always.**

 **While we are cliffhanging you here, I think it was the best place to stop since we dumped a lot of self reflection and such in this chapter. Next time, we got a whole big fight scene for you guys to enjoy.**

 **Nameless: Sorry about all the (perhaps excessive) CD. We promised to cut back but it's hard to do so when the whole arc is full of it in canon which we are trying to stick to as far as possible. Hope our spin/additions to it was satisfying at least.**

 **Again I think it's necessary to stress that the characters aren't exactly spot on when they describe the personalities of other people. For example, in this chapter we had Mikoto think Ruiko was callous for dismissing the thousands of Sisters that had already died. That's mainly just Ruiko saying "It doesn't matter how many died, one is too many." but Mikoto saw it as "Ten thousand is nothing."**

 **E4E: The Mikoto reflection was her own spiral of depression until she reached a crazy low point in her life. I mean, it's basically from canon, but we put a more solitary spin to it so to say. And of course, the fight scene with Touma is on its way. Should be fun.**

 **You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Eighteen: Sisters' Battlefield Resolve**

 **Beta:**

* * *

"Get lost you pest." The Number 1 shouted dismissively as he tilted his head towards Kuroko and Mikoto. In the same move, he sent a massive tornado screaming towards the two roommates.

Kuroko was on the ball however and grabbing a hold of Mikoto's shoulder, promptly teleported the pair of them to safety. They barely escaped in time as the tornado completely devastated their previous location.

"Onee-sama, I really need some context!"

"There's no time!"

As if to prove this point, Accelerator swept his feet across the graveled ground and sent a dozen of the pebbles hurtling at them like hypervelocity missiles.

Kuroko again managed to teleport away just in time. Mikoto herself joined the ride as they rematerialized a safe distance away from their previous location.

"Nice try, amateur." The Number 1 grinned, as he casually waved his hand dismissively at Saten and sent her flying with a aerokinetic blast. Both Mikoto and Kuroko called out in horror, but that only distracted them from their own problems as the area around them was engulfed in an air burst.

Mikoto covered her head as she landed with a thud, a hastily created electromagnetic shield having absorbed most of the force of the attack. She was still sporting a host of new bruises though and she hissed at the pain, but nevertheless pushed past it.

Worried about how her roommate fared, she called out to her. "Oi, Kuroko!"

She didn't get a response. This caused a chill to crawl up her spine. Looking around, the girl gasped when she found her roommate flat on the ground.

"Kuroko!" Mikoto shouted in distress as she scrambled to her friend. Checking her, the [Railgun] sighed in relief that the Teleporter was breathing.

"One down, three more to go." Accelerator cackled as he created an air bubble. With a flick of a wrist, the air bubble spontaneously collapsed, the sudden rush of air as it filled the empty space was so intense that it created a powerful explosion and massive sonic wave. An effect that he, of course, used his redirection to focus on Mikoto.

"I knew watching Animal Planet like Ruiko suggested would come in handy." The psycho said with a chuckle as his attack roared down the narrow paths between the shipping containers at the roommates.

 _Shit! I don't have anything that can block that!_ Mikoto realized as she mentally ran through her options and came up with nothing. Trying to drop some shipping containers in the path of the firestorm might work, but she honestly didn't know if she had the power to move enough of them to make a difference in time. She couldn't even evade, not without abandoning Kuroko to annihilation.

 _Have to try it anyway!_ Mikoto thought to herself as she began to reach out with her powers, even as her calculations told her she wouldn't make it.

She'd only managed a single container into the way of the explosion, which it easily consumed, before it was upon her.

Thankfully, just before the devastating attack struck home, a wall of earth shot up out of the ground and shielded them.

Still carrying the clone, though she had by now just resorted to throwing the poor girl over her shoulder and carrying her like a sack of potatoes, Namikaze stepped out from around a corner of the maze of containers.

"That stupid Saten! Giving the psycho more ideas? He was dangerous enough without imitating the Pistol Shrimp." The blonde muttered indignantly under her breath, as she stalked over to glare at Mikoto.

"And you!" The Number 2 said raising her voice. "Stay out of this!"

"I-"

"Zip it!"

Mikoto got up and pushed Namikaze out of the way, "Don't tell me what to do!"

Any further conversation was shelved, as the earth wall separating the girls from the fight exploded as a railroad spike flew past them.

"Hello~!"

Mikoto just launched a bolt of lightning through the new hole at Accelerator. In response, the psycho smirked as he effortlessly deflected the attack, right into a battered looking Saten who was already sporting a couple railroad spike piercings.

Both of the other Tokiwadai girls screamed in horror as they watched their friend writhe in agony before collapsing to the ground.

Turning away from the seemingly beaten Number 3, Accelerator focused on Mikoto and Namikaze. Even as in the background, Saten's body visibly repaired itself.

"She is so lucky Auto-Rebirth is kicking in." Namikaze said as she dropped the clone, who was in the process of looking wide-eyed in shock at what was transpiring. "Saten, tag in!"

"N-No! Just keep Se-Sempai away." The Number 3 said weakly as she pushed herself to her feet.

"Done already, Ruiko?" Accelerator asked with a vicious smirk. "Ready for another round?"

He didn't wait for the raven haired girl's nod before charging in and kicking her in the gut. The blow must have been enhanced by his power because it sent her flying. Not done, he raced after her with his ability enhanced speed presumably to continue pummeling her.

"Fuck." Namikaze cursed as he disappeared among the stacks. Gritting her teeth, she turned to look at Mikoto with determination burning in her eyes, "Stay here. Dammit, I swear to god you better or I will break your legs."

* * *

"Like. Hell."

Naru's fingers curled into her palms as she let out an angered growl.

"You know. I was right. Saten was wrong. I knew I had to _kick_ your ass."

Her Sempai looked stunned by this, but narrowed her eyes and slowly picked Shirai-chan up and carried her over to the relative safety of a nook between the stacks. Naru did the same with the clone.

"You," She ordered the clone, "Keep an eye on the Level 4."

"Don't tell her what to do." Misaka scowled at her.

A kick to the gut told the older girl otherwise.

 _I really don't want to be doing this, but sweet hell that felt cathartic._

 _ **Wouldn't beating on Number 1 be even better?**_ The blonde's resident demon chimed in.

Winding up her arm, Naru advanced forward and beat some sense into her moronic Sempai with a powerful right hook.

 _Yeah, but we have a plan._

 _ **A stupid plan.**_

As the Electromaster staggered to her feet, the [Elemental Empress] created nine sets of chakra chains.

 _Shut up! It's the best we've got._

 _ **Doesn't make it any less stupid. Besides, don't you think fighting your precious**_ **Sempai** _ **now is weird as hell? I mean, doesn't it look like you're protecting that psycho?**_

 _Don't remind me! Now take over the chains so I can pound her brain in._

 _ **You mean keep her safe.**_

 _I know what I said._

As the fox seized control of the chains, they came alive and began moving through the air like they were living snakes. Or perhaps more accurately as if they were his tails. Fanning out around her they painted a intimidating picture.

Not that the Number 5 was unnerved in the slightest. She simply raised a brow and asked, "You've been watching too much hentai lately, haven't you?"

"There is no such thing." Naru smirked as the chains lashed out.

The Electromaster jumped out of the way, using her electromagnetism to perform impressive feats of mid-air agility to easily avoid the chains as they pursued with a serpentine grace.

 _Wow, she is surprisingly flexible._

 _ **Yeah. Wonder how that affects her skill in-**_

 _Don't go there!_ Naru warned as she helped her tenant out by launching a fireball at her Sempai to try to box her in.

As the chains were close to ensnaring the [Railgun], Saten's beaten body flew between the two.

 _Grab her!_

 _ **On it!**_ The fox acknowledged as he redirected the chains to pluck the battered girl out of the air before she made a nasty landing.

Even then she looked like a wreck as he slowly lowered her to the ground. Her legs were twisted awkwardly as the brunette struggled to get up.

"Seriously, tag me in Saten. You can't keep this up." Naru said with worry seeping into her voice.

The other girl just shook her head and took a fortifying breath before biting back a scream as the bones in her legs reset themselves. Once done, she gave Naru a nod and teleported back to being Accelerator's punching bag.

The blonde sent Misaka a vicious look, "We're trying so hard for you, but all you keep doing is getting in the way. Why couldn't you just sit and do what you're told!? I need to help Saten before that psycho kills her!"

"And I have a plan, so don't get in _my_ way! Once I'm done, you can just get out of here and get Saten to a hospital."

"You are insufferable!" Naru shouted as she decided it was time to end this and charged in gunning for a quick take down. Enshrouding her hands in a chilly aura, she aimed a punch at the stubborn Number 5's face.

Misaka barely avoided the blow, but a deep seated chill crept over her clothes and skin. She was covered in a layer of frost that made her break out into shivers.

The older girl wasn't so easily taken down it seemed and fought off the paralyzing effect of her chill touch by causing electricity to dance up and down her body. That was not all though and with a shout, a static burst erupted from her body. The last of the ice on the Electromaster's body melted away and Naru was forced to jump back to avoid the blast.

The two Level 5s eyed each other menacingly and the next bout was about to begin when a voice called out to them.

"What are you two doing?!"

They both turned to see that Kamijou Touma had arrived.

"What are you doing here?" Misaka-Sempai cried out in shock.

"I invited him." Naru grinned at her. If it wasn't such a dire situation, the blonde would have milked this awkward moment more. Sadly, the time and place wasn't right. She glanced at the older teen and blinked at his disheveled appearance, "The hell happened to you?"

"There was a breakdown on the light rail on the way here. So I was stuck in a dead tram with two pregnant women. One gave birth. Such misfortune."

Suspicion overcame the twintailed blonde, that breakdown sounded awfully convenient, but she shook it off in favor of focusing on the fight. Her momentary distraction had given her Sempai an opening however and she had chosen to use it to break out in a sprint towards where Accelerator was.

* * *

"Yo Ruiko, enjoying the game?" Accelerator asked his old friend tauntingly.

The girl looked like she been put through the wringer. Not only did she did look utterly exhausted, her clothes told the story of just how badly injured she'd been since their game had began. There were plenty of holes in her usually immaculate Tokiwadai uniform and its fabric had been irreversibly stained by her blood.

 _The only thing keeping her standing is all those fancy regen powers she's got catalogued._ The pseudo albino thought to himself with pride. There after all weren't many people who could push the Number 3 to her limits and definitely no one who could do it with such ease. _And that's why I'm the Number 1!_

Despite her flagging strength, the raven haired girl still somehow found the will to continue nagging him.

"This… This isn't some game, Accel!" She hoarsely declared as blood dribbled from her lips. "I'm only trying to save y-you from-"

"Yeah, yeah," Accelerator waved his hand dismissively, "You said that like a dozen times already. So what game we playing next?"

Ruiko looked towards where that blonde runt and that whiny [Railgun] were duking it out. Or rather the runt was just playing with the lower ranked Level 5.

 _Who am I to judge? I play with my food too._

"How about some knife throwing?" The boy mused idly even as he sent a vacuum blade cutting through the air at the girl. "I've always wanted to have fun playing circus."

Ruiko's eyes widened as the blade closed in on her at high speed. She raised one of her shields to defend herself. It wasn't fast enough and the first blade cut deeply into her right shoulder.

"Gaah!" The Number 3 cried out as her arm was nearly cut off at the shoulder.

 _Come on? No counterattack? You're getting boring Ruiko._ Still, a smile made its way to his face, _Meh, let's see how long she can play defensive. She's gotta attack sooner or later._

Deciding to amp up the barrage, with a burst of computations and an application of will, he turned the number of razor sharp constructs he was flinging her way into a blitzkrieg.

The sheer look of pained concentration Ruiko was wearing was a clear indication that she was having trouble keeping up with his attack. _Good. Maybe getting torn up will_ finally _force her to get with the programme and let loose._

Sauntering towards his beleaguered opponent, he smirked in anticipation as he took down one desperately raised shield after another.

His timing was just right and just as her latest shield collapsed, he stepped right in front of her face. He raised his arm in the air and said, "If you're not even going to fight me, then run back to your mama."

He swung his limb down and released a massive crescent shaped vacuum blade at high velocity towards the girl.

A strangled cry of utter pain left the brunette's lungs as she was sent flying even as the blade left a deep gash that ran from her previously unblemished right shoulder to her left hip. Blood fountained into the air from the terrible wound in a truly beautiful way.

"Damn! I make good art!"

* * *

"AAAAH!" Saten's scream rang out, distracting Naru from any ideas of intercepting the chestnut haired girl. Instead, all her focus was on the brunette as she ragdolled in the air, her blood arcing through the night sky.

"Saten!" Mikoto cried out in alarm as she changed course and pulled off an Olympics worthy jump to pluck their friend safely out of the air.

Naru turned to Kamijou, who was already shaking in anger at Accelerator.

"Oi, you jerk!" The boy shouted as he charged at the Number 1.

"Tch, even more trash?" Accelerator said aloud. With a simple wave of his hand, a typhoon force wind blew the Level 0's way. Meanwhile, the albino just kicked a rock right at Saten at bullet-like speeds. Thankfully, Sempai acted quickly and called up a wall of iron sand that took the hit, even if the hastily assembled construct collapsed from the blow.

Accelerator tsked at his attack being blocked and was readying another one when the sound of shattering glass filled the air. While he was distracted, Kamijou had thrust his right hand forward and negated the squall. By this point, he'd also finished clearing the distance with the albino and he roared right in his face, "I'm talking to you, asshole!"

His right hand clenched tightly, the brunette boy threw his fist forward. The supernatural defying hand bypassed the Number 1's previously impenetrable auto-defense with nothing but the sound of shattering glass and met his face in a staggering impact.

Stunned by the way this nobody had managed what even his most powerful opponents had never done, Accelerator could only look on in shock as the street fighter pulled back for another blow.

 _I want in on that._ Naru decided. It was time to pay the jerk for beating up her friend when she wasn't even fighting back. _Screw the plan! Now that Kamijou is here, so long as he deals the finishing blow it should be enough._

Dashing forward, Naru brought out her Panzer Frame, speeding towards Accelerator like a freight train. Taking the hint, the Level 0 let up on his beat down of the albino and took a step back.

" **[Double Sudden Impact]!"** The blonde screamed as she slammed her two power fists into the albino while he was still recovering from getting what might have been the first real beating in his life.

Unfortunately, the force of her attack was instantly reflected back upon her, shattering the Frame's arms and sending her flying.

 _Ow! Shit! Not even for a second, huh?_

 _ **This guy isn't known as the monsters' monster for nothing.**_ Kurama idly noted as he worked at healing the damage, dispelling the wrecked Frame to use its chakra as fuel for Naru's regeneration in the process.

 _Is that respect I hear?_

 _ **...No. He's a stupid human.**_

While Naru and Kurama chatted, they had landed harshly even though Naru had done her best to use her Frame's thrusters to bleed off some of her momentum. A testament to the force Accelerator had casually reflected back at her.

He was so nonchalant about it in fact that he didn't even seem to notice that he'd done it at all. Instead, all his focus was on Kamijou. Sweeping the ground in front of him, he fired off a barrage of pebbles at the other boy.

[Imagine Breaker] crossed his arms and ducked his hand. This and his exceptional durability saved him from being being killed on the spot, but it nevertheless left him battered and barely standing.

Observing the results of his attack, the Number 1 hummed in thought. "Only one of those rocks slowed down before impact. The one that grazed your right hand."

Naru felt the bottom drop out of her stomach, as the albino burst into a psychotic laugh.

 _Shit! He's figured it out._

"Oh man, that's hilarious! You've got the _one_ thing that can actually hurt me but it's limited to your right hand?" Accelerator noted with a demented smile while keeping his distance, "What now, punk? All I've gotta do is avoid that hand of yours and you're fucked."

"Leave it to the Number 1 to figure all that out in less than a minute. You Level 5s are a scary bunch." The heroic teenager noted grimly, even as he defiantly straightened his posture and indicated he was still ready and willing to fight.

The other boy didn't reply, he simply reached out to touch a nearby shipping container and sent it flying at his spiky haired opponent.

Naru readied an attack to intercept, but Sempai beat her to it and a railgun shot streaked through the sky. Accelerator seemed to expect it however and kicked a pebble at hypersonic speeds to slam into the electromagnetically accelerated round mid-flight, deflecting it. Fortunately, Saten had also decided to intervene and teleporting next to Touma, she tackled him out of the way.

The container crashed to earth inches from squashing the high schooler and his savior into red paste. Their ordeal was far from over however as Accelerator refused to let them recover and pressed his advantage.

With a single ability enhanced lunge, the murderous Number 1 closed the distance with Saten and Kamijou in a split second. In the same motion, his outstretched left arm lanced right through the girl's gut and burst out the other side in an explosion of gore.

If it had been most other girls, Saten would have been dead. Thankfully, her copied regenerative powers kicked in enough to not only save her but keep her conscious. Too bad they were only effective enough to let her feebly claw at the arm impaling her even as her assailant casually swung his arm to the side and sent her flying once again.

" _Saten!_ " Naru and Sempai cried out in unison as they saw their friend land and not get back up.

While the girls were freaking out at their schoolmate's fate and rushed to her side, Kamijou decided to try and mete out some justice.

"What the fuck did you just do!?" Naru heard the spiky haired trouble magnet shout at the Number 1 as he launched a punch at the madman.

She barely paid the ongoing fight any mind though. Mainly she was focused on Saten's battered form. She was unconscious for the moment but she was healing. Slowly, yes, but after the beating she'd been taking the whole fight, slow was better than nothing at all.

"Is she-" Misaka-Sempai asked as she fell to her knees next to their friend.

"She's gonna be fine." Naru assured the older girl, even as she noted the white haired boy had learned his lesson from his earlier thrashing and with a quick burst of his power had jumped out of the melee range as Kamijou threw his punch. All whilst simultaneously retaliating with a gust.

"Just keep an eye on her. Just in case." The blonde added as the [Imagine Breaker] negated the torrent of air.

"What are you going to do?"

"Watching the fight and making sure that asshat doesn't get anywhere near Saten again." Naru said through gritted teeth as she turned away from the badly injured girl to focus on the fighting boys.

"To answer your question," The Number 1 said as he eyed the other boy with a scrutinizing gaze. "I was playing with a friend."

"You call almost killing her, "playing"?" The black haired boy said, glaring at Accelerator.

"Kill her?" Accelerator scoffed. "Ruiko has taken far worst beatings than this. To her this isn't even a Tuesday at the office."

"You rotten bastard."

"Like I care what you think." The psycho shot back. "But I answered your question. So why don't you answer mine now?"

Kamijou nodded, even as he tensed himself, telegraphing that he was about to charge.

"Then tell me, punk, what the hell are you?"

Kamijou ran at the strongest Level 5, his right arm cocked back.

"The guy that's going to kick your ass!"

"Funny, a lot of guys used to think that. You might have a weird power, but it's not invincible." Accelerator grinned and jumped back, keeping his distance from the Level 0. "So far you've only been able to stop the effects of my powers, you can't actually deflect objects or take away the effect of natural forces."

Seeing the distance gained, Kamijou ground his teeth, "So what?"

"Simple, gravity's a bitch." Accelerator declared with a smirk as with a casual touch he sent a shipping container flying in a parabolic arc with Kamijou as the target.

"...Fukou da!" The spiky haired boy screamed as he scrambled for safety and barely made it.

 _Shit! Shit! Shit! Now he's figured out his weaknesses too? We're screwed!_ Naru panicked as a cold sweat broke out on her brow.

 _ **Relax. This fight isn't over yet.**_ Kurama said encouragingly, his voice calm despite the dire situation. Reminding his host that he was someone who had literally lived through centuries of conflict. _**That boy is a hero. And they always manage somehow, even when things look impossible.**_

 _You believe in heroes?_

 _ **My father was one. So yes, I do.**_

 _WTF!? You have a father?_

 _ **Not now, focus and trust him.**_

"Ha! Nailed it!" The Number 1 smiled victoriously, eying his panting opponent. "Now to finish you off."

Still smirking like the lunatic he was, the albino lifted his arms into the air. As he did so, the winds rapidly began to pick up. Within moments, a massive storm had engulfed the railyard. In a testament to the Number 1's control this powerful typhoon was entirely contained within the confines of their battlefield. That didn't in any way detract from its strength however, as evidenced by how it easily picked up any and all the loose gravel in the yard and even the lighter shipping containers into its spiraling winds.

Kamijou curled up into a ball as a means to protect himself.

"Sempai, protect Saten!" Naru ordered as she tried to get near the Level 0. She blasted several containers that were about to crash into either him or herself while fighting against the high speed winds as best she could in a bid to protect their ace in the hole.

But in spite of her best efforts, the brunette was hit several times causing her to wince at each hit. The strength and speed of the winds were so great that she barely made any progress whatsoever.

All the while, Accelerator was cackling, his voice somehow carrying over the roar of the twister.

"This is awesome, haha! Let's try something else!"

At his declaration, the winds shifted and traveled around the Number 1. Everything previously in the air, plummeted to the ground as the wind died down everywhere else as all the wind focused on a point several hundred feet in the air.

With a gleeful look on his face, the albino began to use the rapidly moving winds to compress the air at that single arbitrary point he'd chosen. As a result, slowly but surely the intense pressures he was creating was turning the air there into plasma. He was creating a literal miniature sun!

"Hey punk!" Accelerator said to Kamijou's unconscious form. "You managed to punch me earlier, right? So why don't I return the favour and let you have a taste of some plasma?"

 _Dammit, he's out cold!_ Naru thought, seeing the build up of the winds, she focused her chakra to exert her own control over the air. _I may not be able to stop him, but I can at least slow him down._

"A-Accel!" A weak shout from Saten called out, "Please, stop t-this."

The brunette looked like she was just barely clinging to life. She coughed up some blood as Misaka-Sempai helped to prop her up, looking on worriedly all the while.

 _Damn! His control of the winds are too strong! I'm not making a dent._ Naru noted with frustration, even as she worriedly eyed how Accelerator leveled a look at Saten. Naru was pretty sure it was a mix of irritation, amusement and dare she say it, affection, as he looked at her.

In response, Saten whispered something to Misaka-Sempai and gently pushed her away before feebly getting to her feet. The [Railgun] shot Saten one last look before bolting to where Naru had left the clone.

 _What does she think the clone can do?_

 _ **Maybe she's taking her and running away?**_

 _She won't do that!_

Kurama just shrugged. _**It won't matter either way. Not when the hero finishes this.**_

 _Not that nonsense again!_ Naru would have given her tenant a tongue lashing right then, but she was a little too preoccupied with trying to stop the Number 1's attempt at playing god to worry about the demon being an idiot.

"P-please, Accel. Listen to me." Saten begged, her voice growing steadier as her powers got further along in repairing her body.

The Number 1 just ignored her and continued to look at her with that strange look of his. Though exasperation seemed to have seeped into his gaze.

Meanwhile, Sempai seemed to have reached the clone and was pleading with it to do something to stop Accelerator.

"You want to live, right? Then you have to stand up for yourselves! All of you!" She begged them at the top of her lungs, too out of sorts to maintain the manners that their school drilled into all its students.

 _All the clones? Wha-_

The answer to Naru's unfinished question came as a new wind current blasted into the area, beginning to destabilize the precise patterns that Accelerator was using to maintain his stellar nursery. Turning quickly, she noted that the many windmills throughout the City were one by one turning in their direction and sending torrents of wind at them.

"The clones." Accelerator hissed as he turned, ready to march towards the lone clone in the yard.

He was stopped as Saten limped into his way.

"Ruiko, get out of my way." He said, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"No." The Number 3 said as she spread her arms and blocked his way. At the same time, the wind around her began to spiral erratically as she joined in on the efforts to stop the madman.

 _Kurama! Festung, now!_ Naru screamed as she saw where this was going.

 _ **On it!**_

"You bitch!" Accelerator snarled, causing Saten to flinch from the insult. "You're still standing in my way? And you call me a friend? Die!"

With a thought, the psychopath directed the relatively small quantity of plasma he'd created so far to come streaming down at Saten in a massive beam of raw destruction. Thankfully, Naru's Festung Frame settled around her an instant before the beam began streaking to earth and she was able to intercept it with a beam of raw chakra of her own, thus deflecting it.

The resultant explosion as the beam impacted the earth was nothing short of cataclysmic in magnitude. As the shockwave rushed over the surroundings, Naru watched in horror as the Number 1 redirected a whole chunk of the powerful overpressure directly at the still recovering Saten.

[Multi Skill] had managed to bring up a shield to protect herself but it proved utterly insufficient to withstand the fury unleashed upon her. For what seemed like the umpteenth time, she was flung into the air. She impacted one of the shipping containers with such immense force that it indented. Between the exposure to the shockwave and the impact with the container, any progress her healing might have made was wiped clean and she was once more bleeding like crazy.

Seeing that, Naru felt like something snapped within the her mind as raw fury ignited in her veins.

" _ **Accelerator!"**_ The blonde roared as her blue eyes turned to a burning vermillion. _**"Die!"**_

Even before she finished speaking, the many guns of the Festung roared to life and an immense barrage of chakra projectiles flew downrange towards the unflustered Number 1.

Unfortunately, his confidence proved warranted as his automatic redirection kicked in and the entire barrage was deflected. Right back at Naru!

" _ **Oh shit!"**_ The blonde shouted as she used the limited thrusters of her Frame to try to evade the projectiles heading her way, not willing to take the risk of being able to reabsorb the volatile masses of chakra before they exploded. She did a good job at first, but all good things must come to an end and eventually she swerved left when she should have veered right and was hit dead on by one of her chakra mortars.

The explosion rocked her and threw her through several containers until she landed in a ten feet deep crater in the earth.

* * *

 _Ugh, my everything._ Touma thought as he blearily opened his eyes. Only to be greeted by the sight of the brave little girl standing up to the psycho Number 1 get brutally sent crashing into a stack of shipping containers. Again.

The perpetually unfortunate boy moved to do something but his muscles spasmed, and he fell to one knee. He screamed at his body to move, but the pain flared something fierce. As he was fighting through the agony, he saw the blonde loli lose her temper at seeing her friend's state and try to bombard their enemy with what looked like a barrage of mini nukes.

Seriously, why do all these girls have massively dangerous powers?

The terrifyingly powerful assault didn't amount to much however since the Number 1 just reflected it right back at her. The Number 2 tried to evade, but she was still hit by her own attack and sent flying.

Gritting his teeth, Touma shakily got to his feet.

"Hey! You think you're so tough?" Touma called out the demented Level 5, "Beating up little girls?!"

"Whaddya say, punk?" Accelerator asked with a snarl, turning to face Touma.

"You heard me. You're not tough, not when all you seem to know how to do is beat on little girls." The Level 0 said fearlessly. He should have been terrified of facing off against much less pissing off, the most powerful Esper in the world. The boy who caused even the most dangerous goons in the City to shake in terror at the mere mention of his name. But he wasn't feeling a hint of fear, not when righteous indignation at his cruelty was boiling his blood.

The crazy eyed Esper flared his nostrils and cackled lowly, "You know? I was going to save you for last, but fuck it." The albino's white hair whipped wildly as he charged at Touma like a bullet, "I'll tear ya apart right now!"

In a second, the strongest Esper was in range and swung his fist wildly at the Level 0.

To Touma, the swing was… sloppy. For someone who had been in his share of brawls, it was more like an angry child trying to hit someone than a proper punch.

"Your punch needs work." Touma told the other boy honestly, as he easily stepped into his completely open guard and delivered a punch with his right fist into the loon's smug face.

The albino stumbled and looked ready to take one of his super leaps to create distance, but Touma was having none of it. Reaching out with his right hand, he grabbed hold of the boy's shoulder and negated his power while simultaneously pulling him into a left hook.

The other teen let out a gasp and almost went limp in his grasp for a moment. Touma didn't have mercy on him and left him choking on his own blood as his latest punch nearly broke the seemingly fragile guy's jaw.

"You should have clenched your teeth because I'm going to shatter that messed up illusion of strength you have!" The brunette roared as he punched the Number 1 ranked Esper in Academy City in the face.

Repeatedly.

It was damn satisfying!

Touma released the Accelerator, who wavered on his feet, and reared his right fist.

"Lights out!" The eternally unfortunate boy shouted as the blow cracked right into the albino's nose. The force of the punch sending the thin teen flying through the air to land in a crumpled heap.

The railyard turned silent as the battle finally ended.

For a moment, Touma stood there ready for anything as he eyed the Number 1. However, when it became clear he wasn't getting back up, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Holy shit. Never thought I'd see him flat on his ass. Damn, where's my phone?" The blonde loli said, causing Touma to almost fall over at the broken tension.

"Uh, didn't you get blown up?" He turned to ask the girl, finding that the only sign of her recent intimate acquaintance with an explosion was her clothes looking scuffed up.

"Huh? Oh! That's nothing. I've gotten through worse." She shrugged and patted him on the back, "Nice going, tough guy. Glad you lived."

"Namikaze? You alright?" Biri-Biri said as she cautiously walked over, one of her sisters trailing behind her.

"Yeah. You and your clone okay?"

 _Clone? Well, that explains a lot._

Biri-Biri turned to her clone for a moment, who nodded, and replied. "We're fine."

"Good, then I can do this." The blonde said as she stepped up to the Electromaster and promptly slapped her.

Touma winced and had a feeling he shouldn't be here.

Just in case things got explosive.

Biri-Biri, stunned, touched her reddening cheek.

"You are so freaking stupid!" Namikaze roared like a tiger, "You're already in trouble for going all lone wolf, but this? Saten and I were trying to keep you alive and what do you do? You walk right into a suicidal fight with the Number 1! You are in so much trouble for trying to throw your life away like a dumbass!"

The blonde girl didn't seem to notice the tears in her eyes.

"What about your friends? What about your family? How do you think all of us would feel if something happened to you, huh?" She demanded from the chestnut haired girl.

"I-I…" The older girl stammered, at a loss for words.

 _Getting called out like that? I'm not surprised._ Touma noted with sympathy.

While the two Tokiwadai girls were talking, their battered schoolmate - Saten was her name, right? - had regained consciousness and was dragging herself towards the unconscious Accelerator.

The blonde walked over to the other two Level 5s and said, "Oi, Saten, leave that maniac alone. We need to get you home to rest."

The genuine worry was clear in her voice even as the blue eyed girl tiredly rubbed her eyes.

"I-I'm fine." The girl croaked out. "I n-need to make sure A-Accel is okay."

Everyone, Touma included, shot the girl incredulous looks. The guy had beat her within an inch of her life and she was still worried about him? _Is she a masochist?_

Fuming, the loli just stalked off towards that teleporter girl that always seemed to like hanging around Biri-Biri. He hadn't even noticed she was here until now which might have something to do with the fact that she was unconscious and tucked away in a safe corner of the battlefield.

Picking the tawny haired girl up carefully, the blonde said. "Why are all my friends impossible! First Sempai tries to commit suicide and now Saten's acting like a masochist for the psychotic sadist! You're all weird!"

 _Oi oi, a little girl shouldn't be talking about those things!_ Touma paled as this was something Aogami would jump on for sure.

"But I guess I helped you lot anyways." The shortest of the girls said with a resigned sigh. "So I guess I'm just as weird as the rest of you."

With one last exasperated, affectionate look over her friends, the blonde teleported away.

 _I see why both she and Biri-Biri are friends. They're both tsunderes._

Any further thought on the matter was interrupted as the sounds of sirens screeched through the now still night.

"You called Anti-Skill?" Biri-Biri asked the Saten girl who by now had managed to pull herself into a sitting position next to Accelerator.

 _Anti-Skill, already? This must be a new record!_ Touma noted with sarcasm at the uncharacteristically quick response time for the organisation. _Wait! If Anti-Skill is on the way, then… Shit! This is so gonna suck._

* * *

Naru sat in a pretty white sun dress, gold bangles along her arms and heeled sandals strapped up to her shins. She carefully stirred her drink as she sat across from Shutaura.

The two were in a cafe, seating in a far off booth to discuss what had happened the previous night.

"Do you realize the amount of property damage you caused with this latest stunt? The railyard is out of commission for two weeks!"

Naru struggled to keep her eyes up. Not an easy feat considering that Shutaura wasn't in her usual skin tight bodysuit. Instead she was wearing a low cut blouse that showed plenty of cleavage, which was further enhanced by the closed blazer she wore over it that just emphasized the girl's assets even further. This was paired with a tight pencil skirt which showed off her toned legs and perfectly proportioned posterior. All in all, the other girl was rocking the sexy professional look.

Shaking off the distraction, the blonde replied, "It wasn't my fault, all I did was dodge."

"And use Festung." The brunette narrowed her stern gaze.

There was no way to hide the wince from that one.

 _ **Someone's in trouble.**_

 _Shut up!_ Naru whined at her tenant. They had been going back and forth all night, ever since the fight. He'd been insisting that her friends had come to mean more to her than she'd ever thought possible, while she tried her best to deny it. Quite futilely.

In her heart of hearts, the blonde could admit he was right. But she wasn't about to let him know that. Or anyone for that matter.

She'd grown up as an outcast, [The Alien]. She had thus naturally desperately tried to find family, and now that she'd found people who might just fit the bill… Naru just didn't know how to handle it. Not yet, at least.

"Alright, so I might have fired… a few rounds."

"Enough with the excuses! You know how dangerous that Frame is." Shutaura crossed her arms, pushing up her breasts even more and momentarily distracting Naru. She refocused her attention onto the conversation however as the older girl's next set of words raised her hackles. "Even more with the Number 1 being able to reflect them. What if they flew off into the distance?"

Naru's gaze turned chilling, "He was literally ripping Saten apart. I. Got. Angry."

A growl escaped her throat and her eyes flashed vermillion for a second. The thought of seeing Saten, fragile hearted Saten, getting torn apart?

How else was the Number 2 supposed to react to that?

"Still-"

"And if one of the CROWs got hurt like that? You wouldn't get angry?" Naru cut her off, her grip on her drink tight.

"...I would, but I would keep my cool nonetheless."

Looking to the side, the blonde mumbled, "I'm sorry for not being perfect."

Sighing, Shutaura took her drink and sipped it. Setting it down, she said, "Look, I'm merely saying this because this is the third incident that [Multi-Skill] has been a part of. I am concerned over this."

"Gonna apply the three strikes rule?" Naru asked, her voice low and threatening.

"Hmph, it's not as if I have any authority over the Level 5s. As one of the few reasonable ones, I'm just asking you to keep her out of more trouble. Or else, someone who _does_ have authority over you lot _will_ intervene."

Naru's blue eyes narrowed, "We'll take it under advisement. Still, I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Who dressed you up? Because last I checked, this so doesn't seem your style." Naru teased her, a wide smile on her face. "Sexy secretary? You cosplaying or something?"

If Shutaura was going to bust her chops, well, Naru was willing to dish it right back.

An adorable flush on her cheeks, the Leader of the CROWs explained, "I lost a bet with Ladylee-sama."

"Ha! Knew it."

* * *

 **Omake: Canon's Thoughts**

"Wow!" Uiharu said as they finished seeing the last video. "That was kinda intense."

"I dunno," Kuroko said with a shrug. "It looks like pretty much what we went through ourselves."

"Y-you sure?" Saten said, her voice trembling. "I-I don't think me getting nearly torn to pieces was anything like what _I_ went through."

"At least you have some type of regeneration." Mikoto cocked her head to the side, "Did that damned loli have to slap me though…"

"Yes, Onee-sama." Kuroko gave her a dirty look, "I would have done it if I had known about this!"

"You did slap me when you found out."

"My point exactly."

"I cannot believe you have clones though. An army of Ojou-samas."

"Oi, Uiharu, snap out of it!" Saten chided, "You're drooling."

"Awa!"

"Honestly," Kuroko said cutting in, as Uiharu cleaned herself up and Saten giggled at her best friend. "I think the weirdest thing is Kiyama-sensei being Saten-san's mother."

"Or me being a Level 5." The Level 0 admitted. "I mean the powers were cool. I thought it was great at first, but after finding out what it cost the other me… Well, I'm kinda glad I'm a Level 0 here in this world. Less complicated and dangerous!"

"Yeah," Mikoto agreed. "The powers are cool, but it can have its costs too."

"On a happier note, at least these videos might give you some clues on how to awaken your powers." Kuroko suggested to Saten encouragingly.

"True, I wonder if I'm an AIM manipulator in this world too."

"Now that would be scary." Mikoto couldn't help but confess, making all the girls laugh despite the harrowing event they viewed.

* * *

 **Done and done. Thanks to the team of Nameless as usual.**

 **Whoo! Man, this was a rush of a chapter. I love our big fight chapters. Always a blast! Still, got pretty crazy. I hope we showed all the characters at their best or the peak of the emotional states in this section of the story.**

 **Nameless: That was an intense fight, huh? Saten got thrashed didn't she? You might wonder why? Well, the simple answer is that Accel is just that OP. The more complex answer is that Saten was completely unwilling to attack Accel at all, and was sticking to defending herself with shields alone. And we know Accel can dish out a truly impressive amount of firepower and of course can easily smash through her shields. Lucky for Saten, she has regen powers. If not for those, she'd be dead.**

 **Naru's revelation of how much she cares for her friends was a big thing for her. Because we all know she is an outsider, an alien, so the idea that she finally has a family of her own? It's new and well, alien, so she's adjusting. In a good way of course.**

 **Nameless: Yup, hopefully all the CD in this arc was tastefully done and not excessive like some of our reviewers criticize us for being. On this front, I think a bit of clarification is required, namely with Saten. Why was she so weird throughout this arc in regards to Accel? Well, this is simple. She's not the most stable person, after everything she's been through she lives with a constant anxiety that everything can fall apart for her in an instant and this leads her to desperately latch onto the people precious to her. Think back to what she called Uiharu in the Graviton Bomber mini-arc and her utter devotion to her family. She has a similar, if slightly different, irrational attachment to Accel as her first friend (albeit a bad influence to her). Now confronted with a situation that he's doing something wrong and is even hurting her other friends who she is building a similarly strong attachment with? She's basically short circuited and is behaving irrationally. Hence, her apparent masochism.**

 **And Touma, ah Touma, so much fun to write him. Despite the odds, he just grabs onto Accel and whales on the dickwaffle. So much fun.**

 **Nameless: The generic Deus Ex strikes again. I honestly don't really like Touma, but he's essential to the Toaruverse so yeah, expect to see more of him in the future.**

 **The last bit with Shutaura was just the genuine impressions of those who cannot control the Level 5s. Naru is one of the few sane ones to talk to, so of course she's going to get her ear talked off about almost half of the other Level 5s, the top 3 even, brawling within the city. The board of directors must have been peeing their pants.**

 **Nameless: Yup, everyone except Aleister probably had a stroke when they heard what was happening/happened. Betcha he was having a grand ol' time watching the fight though. To him, it would be quality entertainment.**

 **Another thing, in hindsight, we have failed to make this truly a Mikoto arc. To that effect, we'll make the next one about her instead. Sorry about disappointing you guys in this regard.**

 **One last thing, some reviewers brought up the fact that Naru and Saten are not pursuing the best options that are available to them to solve the problems they encounter in this arc. However assuming that they do so all the time basically would mean an expectation of hypercompetence in Naru and Saten just because they are experienced Dark Siders. It does not consider circumstances. The whole confinement of Mikoto is a quick temporary fix since they fully planned to have the experiment shut down quickly, if they failed they would have moved Mikoto. They also definitely underestimated Uiharu and Kuroko, having not expected them to find Mikoto that quickly. More importantly, the situation is taxing them emotionally for Saten especially, but for Naru as well since she's suddenly faced with a situation she's honestly hadn't considered before i.e. opposing, in a way, Aleister. And for friends no less! As such, they are not responding at their best. They can't be expected to always do the 'smart' thing. They are people who can fall into patterns of behavior (Saten's favoring of barriers over other options, Naru's overconfidence leading to getting distracted or underestimating enemies in battle) or simply just not choose the best options when faced with a difficult situation. In fact, you could say that this whole arc is designed, unintentionally from the start, to show this fact. If that's still not enough to convince you, then see it from the perspective of us trying to not write Mary Sues and making the characters hypercompetent is a major step in doing just that.**

 **E4E: Well, you all know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace out my peeps!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Nineteen:** **Big Trouble in Little Academy City**

 **Beta:**

* * *

Misaka Mikoto sighed as she put down the book she was reading.

The Level 5 was currently sitting in the grand library that Tokiwadai offered to her students. On the study table she'd commandeered were dozens of psychology books.

"Damn it! I'm not a psychologist and these books don't make me one, but this is disturbing." Mikoto hissed under her breath as she looked over the conclusions she'd written down in her notepad she'd used to summarise her research.

 _If I have to look at another 'ism', I swear I'm going to fry these things._

She didn't regret it though, the hours of study had let her understand Naru and especially Saten to a degree she didn't think she could have any other way. Which was exactly what she needed. After what they did during the Level 6 Shift experiment, she'd been driven to figure out what made them tick and motivated them to do what they did.

It wasn't much, mind you, but it was a starting point.

 _Alright, just calm down and review what you know._ Mikoto pondered as she tapped her pen thoughtfully against her lip.

She hadn't managed to come up with much that helped her understand Naru better. Mostly looking through the literature and analyzing her interactions with the blonde just led her to conclude that she tended to get overly concerned about stuff and as a result overprotective. Her whole motivation during the Sisters Incident had been to stop Mikoto from doing what, in hindsight, even she thinks was stupid.

Though considering being overly concerned and overprotective about their friends basically described everyone in their group of friends that's not saying much. They really are birds of a feather.

 _Does that mean she sees me as someone close to her? What about the rest of her family?_ Mikoto mused worriedly. She knew that despite the overprotective natures, all her friends had family and other friends outside their circle. _I know her parents are gone, but there has to be someone right? Surely, she's got someone to look out for her and for her to look out for… Maybe, she doesn't and as her friend I'm one of the few..._

Whatever the case, what she did was still really overboard. _Kidnapping me? Seriously!? Did her job as an agent of the City warp her_ that _much?_

"Come to think of it, what do I know about Naru's upbringing?" Naru pondered while leaning back to look out a nearby window to consider the issue. "I mean, I have some idea about Saten's childhood, crazy as it is, but I know next to nothing about the Chibi's."

Why oh why did that little blonde have to be such a mystery?

"All I know is that she was raised in labs until she enrolled into Tokiwadai."

 _That can't be good for anyone but there's gotta be something else that made her as, well, strange as she is._

Realizing that she wasn't getting anywhere, she flipped over her notepad to look over the notes of the surprisingly less mysterious but equally complex Saten.

 _Not that what I found makes that, in any way, a good thing._ Mikoto thought with a frown as she read through her findings.

"Possible relationship obsessive–compulsive disorder" was written in bold and circled at the bottom of the page. While, it wasn't anywhere close to an exact fit, it was what seemed the best bet she could find.

Saten had an unwavering devotion to her family, Uiharu included. Heck, even Accelerator seemed to fall under the category. Even if Mikoto failed to understand why.

 _Has she formed a relationship like that with the rest of us? I know she and Naru are oddly close, but me and Kuroko too?_ Mikoto furrowed her brow in thought, _Or will she soon?_

An unsettling feeling filled the [Railgun]'s stomach at being a potential source of her kohai's mental dysfunctionality.

 _And what can I do about it?_ The chestnut haired girl thought to herself sourly. She didn't know how or even if she could help the fragile brunette. _Maybe I can find a specialist for better advice. Hopefully then I can help Saten._

 _I've gotta come up with something to help the next time she finds herself caught between her loved ones._ A determined gleam entered her eyes even as she shuddered at recalling the memory of Saten literally letting Accelerator pound away at her, battering her into a bloody pulp. It was something that she never wanted to see again.

"How the hell did she end up like that though?" Mikoto asked herself as she slammed the notepad onto the table forcefully. The noise rattling off in the quiet library, earning her a few looks from her fellow students but the Level 5 didn't care.

"Sure she had a traumatic childhood, but she's a Dark Sider! Namikaze too for that matter. Wouldn't their handlers, or whatever, give them counselling or something so they were more well-adjusted? As secret agents of the City wouldn't that make them more effective?"

"Shows that you don't know a thing about the Dark Side." Shokuhou Misaki said as she sautered down the aisle of the library to Mikoto's little study carrel. Her long straight golden hair swaying and her large bosom bouncing with every step and her star shaped eyes looking at her in uncharacteristic reproach.

 _When life gives you lemons, they send you devils._ Mikoto sent a baleful glare at her fellow Level 5. _Wait a minute! Don't I always say that if not for the eyes, she and Naru might as well be sisters with how often they hang out? I wonder if she's the reason Naru's so messed up. It's not the first time [Mental Out]'s done it. Or if not, maybe she at least has more of a clue than I do._

Looking at the books on Mikoto's table, the blonde actually frowned.

"Misaka-san~ What's this?" The older girl asked accusingly.

"None of your business, you fake middle schooler." Mikoto's tongue lashed out on reflex and she mentally cursed herself, _No! She might be helpful… for a price._

"Oh?" The older girl held her silk covered hand over her mouth, "Researching your friends? Hmm~! You have such a low understanding ability when it comes to those two lonely girls!? I'm shocked to the maximum! And here I thought the Trinity was so tight knit."

There was genuine rebuke in that airily delivered jab and Mikoto winced.

 _Yeah, yeah, I'm an idiot for not doing this sooner. Sorry for not realizing my friends were sick in the head from the get go._ Mikoto thought to herself self-deprecatingly even as she retorted with heat. "Shut up and get lost!"

There was no way she was letting this, this big boobed menace realize that she was getting to her.

"What sour people powers you have, Misaka-san." The telepath said with a malicious smirk. "No no, I can't help but feel my curiosity ability be piqued after all this gossip about my dear fellow Level 5s I've been hearing lately, so I came to see what was going on."

 _Dear my left foot!_ Mikoto held back a snort, "Yeah, so what did you and your gossiping hens have to say?"

Ignoring Mikoto's question, [Mental Out] continued speaking. "Imagine my surprise when I find you trying to be coward."

"What did you call me?" Mikoto demanded as she jumped to her feet and shot the other Level 5 a paint peeling glare.

Shokuhou giggled and smiled like a devil. Without so much as a reply, she turned on the balls of her feet and pranced away. Leaving a stunned Mikoto behind.

"W-What? Hey! You insult me and just walk away!?" The chestnut haired girl called after the voluptuous blonde. Seriously, how were those proportions real?!

Chasing after the girl, the [Railgun] managed to catch her upperclassman just before she disappeared around a corner. Turning to face the younger girl, [Mental Out] continued walking away while offering a final piece of advice. "I call you a coward because instead of asking your _friends_ their intentions directly, you're trying to apply your research ability behind their backs to understand them. That is a pretty sketchy power, no?"

The chestnut haired girl was caught flat footed by this and could only stand there in silence as [Mental Out] walked out of sight.

 _Did, Did she just give me good advice?_ Mikoto wondered, but soon the condescending delivery hit her.

"Ugh! That lousy tramp!"

* * *

Heading back to her dorm a little while later, Mikoto was still fuming at the encounter with her least favourite blonde.

 _I really, really hate that woman!_ Mikoto ranted to herself. She kicked a nearby wall in anger, electricity jumping off her frame here and there.

"I swear, one of these days… Straight to the moon with her…"

Not that she could deliver on that threat, her powers could do lots of thing but firing a person to the moon wasn't one of them. Now, if only she could convince Naru or Saten to help...

That thought just brought her mind to something else that was bugging her and she sighed.

"I'm a Level 5 too, but why am I always so useless?"

It stung deep down. That for everything she knew, could do, and was willing to do, she still didn't seem to be as capable as Naru and Saten during Incidents. Just look at the Sisters Incident, where even when their hang ups were on full display, both of her kohai still managed to be more effective than she had.

"Am I really second tier?" Mikoto asked herself in a frustrated whisper. This question and the accompanying worry that she was exactly that had plagued her ever since Saten had called her this back during the Level Upper Incident, and was reinforced each time someone said the same. Saten, Naru and Accelerator… They all seemed to think so little of her ability.

Thinking about the Number 2 brought up something else that was bugging her.

 _I haven't seen the Chibi around for a while._ She mused. Since the Incident, Namikaze had been pretty scarce. _Who knows, maybe she's off trying to stop some world ending crisis here in the City. I wouldn't put it past her._

The whole gang was meeting up tomorrow, so maybe she could ask her then. _That's if it's not classified. Again._

* * *

Kazari didn't know why she felt so nervous.

After all, it was just a regular meet up between her and her friends… to talk about the kidnapping of one of said friends by another two of their friends.

 _Oh why do I feel like I should have brought a riot shield?_

It probably had something to do with the angry scowl on Shirai-san's face as they took their seats in the cafe where they'd agreed to meet.

After finding out what Namikaze-san and Saten-san had done, she was furious with the other two girls of their group. Imprisoning her 'dearest onee-sama' was a capital offense. Technically it was a crime, but with the revelation that Namikaze-san and Saten-san had been responsible, well… they had gotten away with way worse than simple kidnapping in the past.

And that scared the flower crown wearing girl the most.

Wringing her wrists, she saw Misaka-san enter the John's Cafe. She smiled weakly in greeting towards the older girl, who gave one in return.

"Onee-sama!" Shirai-san cheerfully greeted, but surprisingly enough did not jump her like she usually did. It seemed that after what happened in the railyard, the teleporter had decided to stop smothering the [Railgun].

 _Wonder, how long that'll last._ Kazari thought to herself while hiding an amused grin.

"Please, come sit. I'll order you a refreshing drink."

"Thank you, Kuroko." The chestnut girl smiled and sat down in their booth as her roommate got up to place their orders. Looking around, she asked, "So where are my other two kohai?"

"Probably hiding in fright." Shirai-san scoffed with a grumpy pout on her face as she walked back.

"And why would we be afraid of _you_ , Shirai-chan?" Namikaze-san said as she teleported in alongside Saten-san.

Shirai-san bristled at the barb but didn't take issue as the blonde took a seat and Saten-san wandered off to the counter to place their orders. She shot Kazari a questioning look and pointed to the other early arrivals too, but she just shook her head indicating they'd already placed their orders.

"Not at us per se," The teleporter replied. "But our reactions."

Misaka-san nodded and Kazari barely resisted doing the same. She would be worried if she were in the Level 5s' shoes. After doing something like kidnapping a friend, surely they felt guilty and were leery about how their other friends would respond.

"Hmm." The blonde merely hummed, one of her fingers twirling a twintail.

"I wouldn't say we are afraid." Saten-san opined as she returned with their drinks on a tray. Distributing the drinks, she continued. "We honestly think we were justified in doing what we did. So we can't really agree with what you have to say."

"You know what we're going to say?" Shirai-san asked belligerently.

"Of course," Namikaze-san joined in, as Saten-san sat down. "We're not stupid. Seeing you all gathered up, it's obvious where this conversation will lead to. You're all gonna gang up on us and tell us how kidnapping Sempai was a bad thing and we shouldn't have done it, etc., etc."

"Look, we know you two meant well doing that." Misaka-san said with a frown. "You just wanted me to be safe, but you've gotta see where you went overboard."

"Considering what you did immediately after escaping, do you _really_ think you have a right to say that?" The blonde shot back, a fierceness in her cerulean blue eyes.

Misaka-san paled and looked away.

"Onee-sama, what does she mean?"

"Sempai was pla-"

"No, Saten, I'll tell them." Misaka-san said before taking a fortifying breath. Once ready, she continued. "I-I thought, that if maybe… If I maybe ended up like one of my clones… It would force the experiment to end."

Silence washed over the group for a moment as that bomb dropped.

"M-Misaka-san, you were planning to commit suicide!?" Kazari gasped out in shock. Her heart pounded in her chest and her palms grew slick with sweat as the short haired brunette's mind blanked out.

Namikaze-san spoke, her tone icy and stern, "Which was beyond stupid. Even beyond anything that we did to protect you. The moment you interfered, the calculations for the experiment were already ruined. The idiots in charge just didn't want to give up. So sacrificing yourself wouldn't have done any good whatsoever."

"Onee-sama! You made me help you!" Shirai-san said as she shot to her feet to glare at her roommate. "You had me teleport you to that fight with Accelerator!"

"I know…"

"Why!" Shirai-san had tears in her eyes, a look of betrayal on her face, "Why would you let me do that? H-How could you?"

Her whispered question left the [Railgun] looking like she'd been shot, as her entire demeanour screamed guilt.

"It was just a bout of temporary insanity, okay?" Misaka-san said at last, unable to come up with a proper explanation for what she'd tried to do. "I'm over it. It won't happen again."

"It most certainly will not." Shirai-san sniffed, "Not as long as I am around. Never, ever again. Do you understand, Onee-sama?"

"Yes." Misaka-san said looking like a deer in the highlights as she was overwhelmed by the Level 4's intensity.

"And we're talking more about this later when we get back to the dorms." Shirai-san demanded. "You're going to explain to me everything that went through your head when you planned _that_."

Misaka-san just meekly nodded.

 _I think Shirai-san has that front handled._ Kazari noted, even as her stomach churned with fear as this revelation once more showed her how the Dark Side could destroy people. She understood its power, seen its aftermath in the form of what it did to Saten-san, but seeing what it had made Misaka-san do… It just stuck home once more, just what kind of horror her best friend had undergone.

 _If even someone as strong as Misaka-san can break..._

"At least someone can get her to listen." Namikaze-san wrinkled her nose, crossing her arms tightly around her chest.

"Oh don't act so haughty, you." Shirai-san turned her fiery gaze onto the petite blonde.

"Hey, Kuroko, cut them some slack okay?" Misaka-san expectedly said. "You know what I was researching yesterday, don't you? And what I found out?"

Kazari joined Shirai-san in nodding. The [Railgun] had shared her findings from her research on their friends' psyches last night and it had made for some unsettling reading. To think that whatever they'd been through on the Dark Side had wrapped their mindsets that badly. That it had possibly left Saten-san with a mental disorder. It was horrifying.

"Fine…" The fierce auburn girl deflated.

"And what did you find out?" Namikaze asked accusingly. "Ruiko-chan told me you went to the library to look through a bunch of books on psychology. Trying to profile us?"

"Something like that." Misaka-san admitted.

"So what did you discover?" Saten-san asked, looking genuinely curious.

"That you two might not exactly have the same standards of right and wrong as normal people." Misaka-san hedged. If what she'd shared was anything to go by, she'd found out a whole lot more than just that.

"That doesn't excuse what you did though!" She added angrily. Despite what she'd found out, she clearly wasn't in a forgiving mood.

Despite all the anger sent her way, the blonde shrugged, "That's how things are done in the Dark Side. Besides, all's well that ends well."

"That's no excuse." Shirai-san returned, her fire back and fiercer than ever, "To mistreat friends like that is just wrong."

Namikaze-san bore her eyes into Shirai-san's. They were unflinching as she said, "I would do it again in a heartbeat."

"What did you just say?" Misaka-san said while slamming her hands onto the table as she stood up to glare down at the shorter Level 5.

"In. A. Heartbeat." The blonde ojou-sama said slowly.

"Look," The chestnut haired Level 5 said as she grit her teeth in frustration. "That's not how things work."

The Number 2 just shrugged. "It is on the Dark Side."

"You're saying kidnapping your friends, changing their clothes against their will - which can be considered sexual assault mind you - and a whole load of other laws you two broke pulling off what you did is supposed to be normal!?" The Number 5 asked rhetorically, an angry scowl on her face.

"You're making a mountain out of a molehill." Saten-san murmured.

The petite blonde chuckled humorlessly, "Welcome to Academy City. Leave your morals at the gate."

Misaka-san growled at this and for a moment she looked so angry that Kazari feared she would attack Namikaze-san. The mere thought terrified the Level 1, not just because it would be a very dangerous fight. While she couldn't say she wasn't worried about getting caught in the crossfire in a fight between Level 5s, she was sure that her friends would do their absolute best to make sure she was safe even if they were fighting each other. Plus Saten-san was there and she trusted that her best friend, if no one else, would look out for her.

Instead her worries mainly revolved around whether an actual fight would split up their group. She-She didn't want that to happen! Not after they survived such a terrifying event!

"Enough. No fighting." Saten-san said in a monotone and let herself be encased in a rainbow aura while looking at both Misaka-san and Namikaze-san warningly. Both aforementioned girls stood down, breaking their staring contest. Despite that, the tension remained thick.

Satisfied by this, Saten-san let her aura fade and decided to take the reins of the conversation.

"Imprisoning you was my idea. To better keep you safe, Sempai." Saten-san said, her tone barely above a whisper, "The development for the prison is actually part of the City's means to counteract Level 5s should they… rebel. When we were brainstorming how to handle the Incident, Naru-san asked if we could do something to make sure you couldn't act freely and I made the suggestion. It was the best option to keep _you_ safe. I-I could not l-let you throw away your life."

"Saten-" Misaka-san said with a sad shake of her head. Kazari could relate, the way her best friend was describing her logic was exactly what the literature suggested people with obsessive attachments might have.

"And did you consider less extreme options?" Shirai-san asked, as neutrally as possible. No easy feat considering how angry her tells were letting know Kazari she was.

"You didn't did you?"

Kazari sighed, already knowing the answer even as Saten-san confirmed it with a nod.

"What time did we have? Our hardheaded Sempai was determined to screw up whatever chance Accelerator had to become Level 6. That was the so called 'best' method she could think of." Namikaze-san defended Saten-san readily.

"Yeah," Misaka-san unexpectedly joined in on Saten-san's defense. "I wasn't exactly thinking straight and Saten was pretty much out of options."

"No duh." The blonde scornfully snorted at the chestnut haired girl.

"You weren't though." The [Railgun] said shooting the blonde a glare. "Unlike Saten, you still had your fancy connections to the Superintendent didn't you?"

"Who do you think came up with the idea to use the Level 0, Baka-Sempai?"

The two looked ready to start arguing again, but Saten-san deliberately put her drink down on the table with too much force causing a loud bang. Namikaze-san and Misaka-san both took the cue and settled down once more.

"Onee-sama, you seem particularly ready to forgive Saten-san. Why?"

At Shirai-san's question, the Electromaster shot Saten-san a look before shuddering slightly but refused to answer.

"Onee-sama?"

"Leave it, Shirai-san." Namikaze-san demanded sternly. "You weren't conscious to see just how crazy the situation was leaving Ruiko-chan and you should be glad that's the case."

Misaka-san nodded and Shirai-san frowned but didn't press the issue further.

Kazari meanwhile already had a rough idea of what the Level 5s were talking about. While she hadn't been there, she _had_ recovered plenty of footage of the fight. Most of it was from far away cameras whichever Dark Side cleanup outfit was in charge of the task had missed and had only marginally useful footage, but she'd constructed enough of what happened to get the gist of it.

She really wished she could call what she'd recovered fake like the authorities were doing, but she knew it wasn't and that made her heart sink just thinking about what Saten-san put herself through.

And all for...

"Accelerator." The Level 1 whispered with venom. For someone that was supposed to be Saten-san's _friend_ , he certainly didn't act like one!

Oh! She was going to send him so much malware that he'd wouldn't be able to use a computer for a week!

Misaka-san sighed in her seat and looked tiredly at her two kohai, "Can you two at least promise not to do something like that again?"

Saten-san fidgeted in her seat but hesitantly nodded, "I promise to try."

Namikaze-san on the other hand looked bored, "I make no promises. Like always, I'll do what I have to do get the job done. That's that."

"Why you-" The furious [Railgun] shouted as she began to reach over the table to grab Namikaze-san, only to be restrained by Shirai-san.

"Let me go!"

"Calm down, Onee-sama." The tawny haired Level 4 hissed.

"Calm down?!"

"You are creating a scene!" The Judgement Field Agent whispered heatedly.

"I don't care! How can you expect to just sit here and do nothing when she's so dismissive of the fact that she's done done something wrong? The ends don't justify the means."

"Hypocrite." The blonde huffed in reply, causing sparks to dance across the [Railgun]'s forehead.

The cafe's other patrons were looking on at the brewing fight warily now. Kazari would have wondered why no one had intervened yet. Then again from the way they were whispering the names of the Level 5s in their group with trepidation, she got a fairly good idea.

Suddenly the space around their table distorted and the two hostile Level 5s found themselves on opposite sides of the cafe as space returned to normal.

"No. Fighting." Saten-san commanded with a glare at both of her fellow Level 5s.

In response, the two just exchanged another glare before picking up their chairs and returning to the table.

Soon, people began to stand up and leave in a hurry. That wasn't good, not at all.

 _I hope they don't ban us for this,_ Kazari fretted. She didn't want to lose her favorite parfait establishment! Though if they were… well, a few viruses to mess with the store's accounting software would certainly convince them to reconsider.

 _Still, at least Saten-san is acting responsible for the two. Though it's surprising to see her act as a mediator._

"Why don't we compromise?" Kazari suggested, deciding she should help her friend. "Can you promise to at least tell us when something on the Dark Side that might involve us is going on?"

Saten-san paused, as if calculating something in her head. Namikaze-san just hummed in thought, curling one of her twintails with her finger.

"I'll try, but for various reasons I may not be able to unless you figure it out for yourself." Saten-san robotically answered.

She nudged Namikaze-san, who sighed in response.

"I promise to do the same." She said before shooting an annoyed glance at Saten-san.

Shirai-san gave a frustrated sigh and shot her yearmates an exasperated look.

"That's the best we're going to get out of you isn't it?"

"Ye~p!" Namikaze-san said, popping the p. Saten-san just nodded apologetically.

Misaka-san still didn't seem satisfied, but was resigned to this outcome.

"That's a compromise for you." The oldest girl said with a annoyed shake of her head. "Most of the time no one walks away happy."

Kazari didn't really agree. She was perfectly pleased with the promise they'd extracted from the Dark Siders. It at least had them try to be more open about their activities and at the same time wasn't too demanding to the point that they refused to accept it.

If that happened, then their group was as good as over. At least this way, their little group was sticking together and that was most important.

Now, Kazari wondered where was that parfait she'd ordered?

* * *

Mikoto was miffed.

The Level 5 was walking down the street, her body rigid and her strides heavy.

"I can't believe I followed the lousy bimbo's advice." She chided herself, of course that starry eyed schemer would give her advice that would backfire on her. It was how she thrived!

 _Chaos, thy name is Shokuhou Misaki._

Though to be fair, she had to concede that it was likely just poor timing on her part. Maybe asking when they were grilling her friends and tensions were high was not the best idea.

 _Even when trying to be helpful that hussy just ruins things._

Pushing aside the failure of the meeting, she did remember how that little Usagi had brought up the Sisters to deflect things after they'd finally managed to get the two Dark Siders to agree to the compromise that Uiharu suggested.

It had been hard to handle. Kuroko was beside herself at their very existence, which was surprising since it meant that she had more 'Onee-samas' in the City. Uiharu-san was just curious what happened to them after the failed Level 6 Shift.

Thankfully, she only had to say that Heaven's Canceler had taken them in and most were set to leave the City.

 _Hopefully to live their own lives. They deserve that much._ Mikoto thought wistfully.

Though she was a little worried when Saten expressed suspicions about the dispersal arguing that there was no real need for something like that.

A pit formed in her stomach as Namikaze all but confirmed that something was amiss and added that the Superintendent had been the one who proposed the dispersal of the clones worldwide. He had even overruled Heaven Canceler on the matter.

 _What could even come out of them going their own way? As Level 3s, it's not like they can produce effects that can be of use to him. Right?_

Mikoto was so concerned and distracted by thinking about what all this could mean that she that she completely failed to notice that she was on a collision course with a fellow pedestrian until someone ran right into her.

"Ooof!" She grunted as she landed on her rear. Wincing, she shouted, "Hey! Watch where you're going you-!"

Her angry tone died in her throat as she looked to the person who'd ran into her to find _him_.

"Atatata." He said as he rubbed his own bottom. It was her old nemesis, the guy who helped save her and the Sisters. Kamijou Touma.

Mikoto didn't know why her heart started to beat faster, or why her face started to heat up, but she stammered out, "N-N-Nothing! Just watch where you're going, baka!"

"Sorry, but I have to get to the Third Resource Recycling Processing Facility! A trashbot took my wallet. Fukou da." He rubbed the back of his head, "I was in such a rush I didn't see you, sorry."

"Geez, you really are an idiot." She sighed, but she didn't say it harshly. Looking at him closely, he still had some bandages on his person and she winced with guilt, "So how are you doing?"

They both moved to stand up. The taller boy rotated his arm, wincing just a little, "Not much pain anymore, but I'm still pretty sore. I guess I got off lucky after dealing with the Number 1 Esper in Academy City."

Shyness overcoming her, she looked up at him through her bangs unable to make direct eye contact. Why did she feel so flustered?!

"Um, do you want to get a drink or something?" At his cocked brow, she stammered, "I-I-It's to thank you! Nothing else. Got it?"

"I kind of have to get my wallet though." He pointed out dryly, making Mikoto feel like an utter idiot.

What was wrong with her?

"F-Fine! I might as well go help you since you're utterly hopeless."

"Hehe, thanks!" He smiled with that goofy look of his. He started to take off, the Level 5 trailing behind him.

Ugh, what a baka.

* * *

Mikoto and Kamijou were running down the streets of District 7, desperate to get to the Third Resource Recycling Processing Facility before the boy's wallet got recycled. And it inexplicably made her happy. They had been racing down the streets, pushing through the thin crowds when suddenly an explosion rocked the entire area.

The explosion jarred Mikoto out of the happiness she felt while running with the boy. Though that might have been due to the force of the explosion tripping them up. Mikoto groaned as she regained her senses after her fall, only to notice that she didn't land on the ground this time but something else.

"Ow." A pained groan came from below her. Looking down, Mikoto found herself sprawled over Kamijou. A fact that had her blushing furiously.

"B-B-Baka!" She squeaked and scurried off of him, holding a hand to her heart in a desperate bid to calm it down as it raced at a mile a minute.

Another explosion went off and the two turned to see what the cause was.

A block away, a fantastical fight was going on as a group of what looked to be Buddhist monks and mythical creatures were attacking what appeared to be a nondescript office building. That was however proved to be a lie as it was sporting automated machine gun turrets and heavily armed guards.

"A Dark Side base." Mikoto whispered in disbelief at her misfortune to be dragged into another Dark Side Incident so soon after saving the Sisters.

At the head of the attacking force were four guardian lions the size of cars directly out of folklore. The bullets ricocheted off what seemed to be bronze skin. The lions clearly was some construct of sorts. They were the spearhead of the attack, shielding six horse like creatures with dragon heads and deer antlers that appeared to be surrounded by an aura of fire that lobbed fireballs at the defenders. In the air, ten winged antlered lions swooped through the air to attack the guards with their razor sharp talons. In the rear, the monks stood watching as the beasts tore into their enemies.

It was as if it was the march of some strange chimera-eque parade that assaulted the building.

"What's going on?" She asked aloud, but Kamijou didn't answer her. Instead he looked around and muttered a "Fukou da" before rushing towards the battle.

 _That idiot! He's already hurt as is, what is he thinking?!_ Mikoto thought stunned even as she began fishing in her pockets for ammo for her railgun. These weren't her standard arcade tokens though, instead they were a little gift from Saten given to her in recompense for upsetting her during the Sisters Incident. _Not_ Mikoto remembered with a frown for kidnapping her.

Pulling one out of the special coins made out of Dark Matter that took twice as long to burn up as her old arcade tokens thus effectively doubling her range, Mikoto levelled it at the nearest creature.

 _Let's show these Dark Siders why it's a bad idea to mess with a Level 5!_ Mikoto mused darkly.

Shaping the magnetic fields along her arm into a barrel, she flipped the coin into the air and let the forces she'd created grab hold of the coin. With a flick of her thumb, the Dark Matter coin rocketed forward to slam into one of the bronze lions.

The force of her shot sent the construct staggering even as it blew off a sizable part of it body in rocky chunks. This bought the hapless soldier it was about to maul the time he needed to pull back, but much to her dismay failed to take the thing down.

To Mikoto's surprise, the thing began to regenerate. The pieces of its body that had been blasted off floating into the air and quickly reattaching themselves to the creature, with missing bits filled in by fresh bits of stone that seemed to materialize from nowhere.

"Hax." The Level 5 hissed in displeasure.

"[轨道炮]! ([Guǐdào pào]/[Railgun]!)" One of the monks shouted, even as the lion continued to rapidly repair itself and a number of the creatures turned their attention in her direction.

"Great. I hate regeneration." Mikoto's lips turned into a thin line.

That the enemy had an annoying ability was the least of her problems at the moment however as one of the lions, three of the horse things and five of the flying lions rushed towards her. She readied another railgun and quickly let it rip, aiming for the hopefully more fragile dragon horses this time. She wasn't the only one to open fire though and the flaming chimera began breathing fireballs at her.

She thankfully managed to get her shot off before being forced to take a power assisted leap out of the way of being cooked alive, barely managing to escape as all three fireballs hit the place she'd just been standing and creating a sizable bonfire.

Her target however wasn't so lucky and was hit dead on by her railgun, exploding into a pillar of flame upon impact.

Her evasion didn't go unnoticed however, and the lion leapt right at her. Once more Mikoto used her power to help her leap out of the way, only to be tackled right out of the air by one of the winged chimeras. The thing was eager to tear into her as they both fell towards the ground, but the Electromaster beat it to the punch and unleashed a massive electric shock that caused it to explode into a burst of wind and small clay fragments.

"What the hell?" The [Ace of Tokiwadai] noted in surprise at the strange death effect even as she used her powers to pull her to the side of a nearby building. The four remaining flyers attacking her dove towards her but a quick burst of lightning fried one and drove the remaining three off. They weren't the only things headed towards her position though, and Mikoto was forced to jump from her perch back to the ground to avoid twin streams of fire from the flaming beasts.

Rolling to bleed off the momentum, she stopped and got to her feet only to be greeted with the sight of the guardian lion leaping at her. Hastily reaching into her pocket, she fumbled for another coin already knowing she wouldn't make it in time and knowing she had nothing but her railgun that could even damage the construct.

Fortunately for the Number 5, she wasn't fighting alone. Even as she was beginning to panic, Kamijou slid in front of her and cocked his right arm back. Without any hesitation despite the intimidating sight of a massive lion leaping at him, the boy calmly punched it in the face.

The construct immediately shattered upon his very touch.

"啊! [幻觉杀手]! (A! [Huànjué shāshǒu]/Ah! [Imagine Breaker]!)" One of the monks shouted, his friends repeating his words almost fearfully before one of them rushed forward.

"让我来! (Ràng wǒ lái/Let me deal with him!)"

The monk looked like he had walked out of a cliche Kung-Fu movie. In his hands was a bo-staff that he twirled idly as he stepped up to confront the boy.

"Fukou da." Kamijou moaned even as he fell into a street fighting stance.

The monk ignored him and launched into a furious attack

"Whoa!" Kamijou exclaimed as he dodged the first blow, but failed to dodge the follow-up as he was struck across the face.

Staggering, the spiky haired boy wavered on his feet. This just left him open as the monk continued to push his advantage, hitting him repeatedly in quick succession all across his body even as he danced around the teenager while seemingly effortlessly evading the boy's much more clumsy attempts at counterattacking.

With one final powerful blow to the face, Kamijou began to collapse backwards. Adding insult to injury however, the monk proceeded to sweep his legs from under him even as he fell thus sending him crashing him to the ground with even more force.

The terrorist monk didn't relent as with a warcry he slammed the butt of his bo-staff into the battered high schooler's stomach.

"Gah!" Kamijou grunted as he spat out what looked like the blood tinged and half-digested remains of his breakfast and lay there in a pained daze.

Mikoto just watched all this in shock. The boy who had defeated her on multiple occasions and had defeated _Accelerator_ had just been taken out just like that!

 _Note to self: Do_ NOT _let them get close._ Mikoto noted with trepidation as she flung a bolt of lightning at the monk. He somehow leapt back a few feet and avoided the bolt, but the Esper was unable to press the opening as she was forced to evade as well as the two surviving dragon horses began lobbing fireballs at her.

Reaching out with her powers she tried to grab hold of one of the three remaining lions to drag it in front of her as a shield, but frowned as she realized that despite their metallic appearance they weren't magnetic at all. This left her with no choice but to use her power to keep mobile while evading the attacks from the two firespitters and their three airborne friends. She retaliated with bolts of lightning, but the damn things somehow seemed to know where she was aiming even before she fired and moved out of the way.

 _Geez, talk about a tight pinch,_ Mikoto thought as she released a powerful static burst that took out the annoying winged lions.

"At least they're out the way." The Electromaster noted with satisfaction even as pulled herself out of the way from a fire blast unleashed by the flaming hybrid creatures. "Now there's just this two."

Sparing a glance at her ally, she saw him try to get up only for the monk to slam the butt of his staff into the boy's chest and send him back onto the ground.

"G-Great, we're in a Kung-Fu movie now and I'm the ignorant idiot getting his ass kicked by the master. Fukou da!" The unfortunate boy wheezed out as he tried to catch his breath.

 _Does he ever shut up?_ Mikoto thought to herself in amusement even as she fired a bolt at the monk.

Once again defying logic, the monk jumped to safety a moment ahead of the bolt's impact.

 _How are they doing that?_ The Electromaster asked herself in frustration, even as she surveyed her surroundings for another offensive option. Clearly her lightning bolts weren't working.

As if to prove her point, the two flaming horses casually trotted out of the way of another pair of lightning bolts she sent their way, all whilst they rained flaming attacks her way. Attacks that she evaded with far less ease.

Looking behind Kamijou and the monk, Mikoto spotted something that she could use. With a pleased smirk, she began quickly formulating a plan.

Using her electromagnetism, she grabbed a nearby trashed security robot and sent it flying at the monk! The sound of the thing flying through the air had the monk spinning around to see what was happening, but it didn't trigger whatever preternatural sixth sense he had that let him evade her lightning. As such, he had barely registered the incoming attack before the large metal object hit him with bone breaking force. The force of the blow practically bent him in half, and he collapsed to the ground. Just as she did that, one of the horse chimeras that had been attacking her abruptly disappeared.

 _Wait, it vanished just as I took out one of the monks. Are they linked? If so…_ The [Railgun] thought and charged up a handful of lightning bolts. She flung them into a group of the monks.

Several of them were able to dodge the bolts, though a few weren't so lucky. As lightning coursed through their bodies, they crumpled to the ground in twitching messes. Her theory was proven true as with each fallen monk, one of the constructs disappeared. None of them however, Mikoto noted, were the horse things which now all turned to face her.

"Oh damn!" Mikoto cursed as the four creatures all focused their fire breaths at her. Combined the flames they created practically filled the whole street. Mikoto tried to pull herself up and above the firestorm by attracting herself to the roof of a nearby building but her computations told her she wouldn't clear it in time.

Thankfully for her, Kamijou had caught his second wind at last and stepped - limped really - into the path of the wall of fire and just tiredly stretched his right hand out. The moment the blaze touched his right hand, it vanished without a trace.

 _Seriously, what is the deal with that hand of his?_ Mikoto thought with wonder as she prepared to counterattack.

Just then a set of rockets screamed pass her and slammed into the ground around the monks.

"撤! (Chè/Retreat!)" The monks shouted as they fled, even as a trio of strange tanks with three wheeled legs screamed pass her _on_ the side of the buildings all whilst firing a barrage of rockets at the retreating terrorists.

It looked like that for now the fight was over.

* * *

Mikoto sat in an ambulance across from Kamijou as the boy had his injuries looked at by a Anti-Skill medic. Shortly after those odd wall crawling tanks had shown up to drive the monks off, Anti-Skill and a squad of their medics - the City hadn't gotten around to replacing its emergency response force yet even though MAR had been gone for ages - had shown up to sort out the aftermath.

Neither of them had noticed during the fight, but plenty of innocent people had been injured in the attack. People who had just been minding their own business who had gotten dragged into whatever Dark Side disagreement that had led to those monk cosplayers to launch a surprise attack on their rivals in broad daylight. There had even been deaths… though one of them weighed especially on Mikoto's conscience.

The monk who she'd hit with the robot… he didn't make it. Apparently hitting someone with a few hundred pounds of metal and electronics at high speed wasn't exactly conducive to their good health. Though how that led to him burning to death like she'd been told didn't make sense to her.

She was still trying to figure it out when a group came up to the two and Mikoto immediately recognized the uniform they were all wearing. It was the Black Crows from the Big Spider Incident.

 _From what Saten told us, they're part of a Dark Side outfit. One that is friendly with Namikaze._

"Excuse us. Our unit leader would like a word with you two." He said, thumbing over his shoulder towards their base.

 _Well, in for a penny, in for a pound._ Mikoto thought as steeled her rattled nerves.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless as always.**

 **So just after her own Arc, Mikoto is getting one to explore her feelings. In more ways than one in this matter, lol.**

 **Nameless: Well, first thing I want to say is a big thank you to our reviewers. A lot of the content in this arc actually came about as a result of me and E4E discussing some of your reviews. Things like the consequences for the Trinity group dynamic due to Mikoto's imprisonment in the last arc being harsher than anything we came up with initially and the fleshing out about how Dark Side assets/outfits are managed. So if you like these bits or find them helpful in understanding our take on canon/the Trinityverse, then it's all due to our helpful reviewers. Please keep the reviews coming!**

 **Thank you very much! A lot of emotions were given out for everyone and I hope it was real enough. Saten of course seems remorseful but Naru, well, she's Naru. Whatever it takes to get the job done.**

 **Nameless: Actually what I liked most about that was Saten being forced (as the only other Level 5) to play mediator. It's so OOC for her, but she had no choice but to do so. It's also a chance to have her use some powers she's been neglecting lately. Sure barriers and energy beams have become her mainstays but it's time to let her stretch her abilities a little.**

 **We had a pretty interesting fight. Keeping up with the Chinese theme, we decided to use Shoalin monks (or at least based off them) with guardian animals. Foo Dogs, Qilins, and Pixius. As for Touma getting his butt whooped? Well, they're shaolin monks… he is not a kung-fu warrior, he's a street bawler.**

 **Nameless: Talking about the Chinese theme, the chapter and the other chapters in this arc will be inspired by the classic** _ **Big Trouble in Little China**_ **. Oh! One last thing! We aren't mental health professionals and neither is Mikoto, so if our diagnosis is wrong and it probably is, that's why. We only had Google to rely on so we hope you can forgive us.**

 **Well, you guys know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you think. No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Twenty:** **Give us your best shot, pal. We can take it.**

 **Beta:**

* * *

The Crows led them to a conference room inside their base and told them to wait. Walking through the building, Mikoto couldn't help but note that it looked entirely like a normal office building. It even had actual office staff who looked shaken by the fighting and were receiving counselling by Anti-Skill staff. A fact that had her both mildly impressed and disturbed by the group's dedication to maintaining their cover.

 _Ugh, I can never look at anything in this City the same again._ Mikoto sadly mused.

A small part of her wished she was still ignorant. But then again that wasn't who she was, was it?

They had been waiting a couple of minutes and while Mikoto was keeping herself occupied building up a head of steam at the Dark Side, Kamijou seemed to have gotten antsy and fidgeted constantly.

"So, pretty crazy huh?" Mikoto brought up, antsiness of her own coming to a head.

"Not really," the boy refuted with a shrug. "I get dragged into stuff like this all the time."

Mikoto honestly didn't know if he was joking and just looked at him incredulously. This caused the older boy to fidget even more intensely and to rub his head sheepishly.

"Really?"

"Yeah." He confessed.

"You have a penchant for trouble I see."

"H-Hey! It's not my fault! Trouble finds me. I swear!" He frantically waved his hand.

"Uh-huh." Mikoto dryly looked him up and down.

"So good shots with your railgun just now." Kamijou complimented in a transparent bid to change the subject.

Mikoto smiled and let him. While she was getting a kick out of teasing him, she did still owe him. So a reprieve was in order. Besides this little segue in their conversation was in a direction that would let her show off a little. The Number 5 wasn't normally one for going out of her way to impress people but when it came to this boy, she found herself making an exception.

"Yeah, thanks. I got a recent upgrade."

"Upgrade?"

"Yep." She grinned, fishing out a handful of her new coins. They were darker than her usual arcade tokens and lacked a sheen as well. "Saten gave me these."

"Eh? The Number 3?" He looked nervous about talking about her. Something that didn't go unnoticed by the girl, "What do they do?" He asked politely, though from the look in his eyes he wasn't really all that interested.

Mikoto frowned, but nevertheless answered. "They're more heat resistant than the arcade tokens I normally use, so they take twice as long to burn up when I fire them. Which means-"

"They give you twice the range." The boy nodded in understanding looking surprised. "Got it. That's pretty cool, actually."

"Yeah, useful." He nodded in agreement.

"Honestly, surprised I got that so easily." The Level 0 whispered to himself under his breath.

Mikoto just chuckled a little at that not unearned bit of self-criticism. The boy had a reputation for being a little dense after all.

For his part, the high schooler didn't take offense at her laughing at him instead just grimacing a little.

"So, um, the Number 3. She's your friend, right?" Kamijou asked warily once Mikoto stopped laughing.

"Yeah? Why?" Mikoto frowned. What was he so worried about?

 _D-Does he like brunettes like Saten or something?_

"Well you see-"

"She's into sadists!" Mikoto blurted out, her face going red at her sudden outburst.

"EH?!" Kamijou cried out in surprise, "What are you talking about?"

Mikoto ducked her head, trying to hide her blazing face.

 _W-W-Why did I say that?!_

"Wait, wait." The boy said as he furrowed his brow in thought. "You mean, and please tell me I'm wrong, that Number 3 likes the Number 1? Even after he almost literally tore her to pieces?"

The spiky haired brunette looked absolutely stupefied as he came to that conclusion.

"Mm." Mikoto squeaked in agreement, not trusting her own voice.

"...Why are you Level 5s so freaking weird?"

 _W-Weird?! I am not weird!_ Mikoto fumed, but couldn't help but agree with the rest of the Level 5s.

"First, there's you who's a battle maniac."

"Hey!"

 _I'm not that bad, right?_ Mikoto thought to herself weakly.

"Then there's the murderous psycho that's Number 1! And now some masochistic girl. And I betcha when I meet the others, they'll be weirdos too. Seriously, what's wrong with you guys?"

Mikoto winced, that was a accurate and rather damning observation about the three Level 5s, herself included. Considering there were only nine of them, it wasn't painting a pretty picture. Especially when you added in what she knew about the others that Kamijou apparently hadn't met, what with the manipulative [Mental Out] and the murderous [Melterdowner].

 _I'm way better than them though!_ The [Railgun] thought as she said, "W-Well yeah, but those are two extreme cases on the spectrum."

"And they're getting together? And no one thinks that's a bad idea?"

"Trust me, we do." Mikoto replied with a long suffering sigh. "We tried talking Saten out of it just yesterday. She wasn't exactly willing to listen though."

Kamijou looked at her searchingly for a moment before nodding. "Stubborn?"

The Tokiwadai student just nodded.

"I know the feeling. But whatever, crazy person or not I still owe Number 3 an apology. Mind telling her I'm sorry for me?"

"What did you do?" She asked, pursing her lips and looking at him suspiciously.

"Hey, hey! I didn't do anything." Kamijou quickly said, "All I know is that I must have done something to offend her, 'cause every time I bump into her she runs away the moment she sees me."

"You must spook her. What with beating up her demented boy-toy." Mikoto harshly snarked. She didn't approve of Saten's choice in love interests. In her honest opinion, the brunette needed someone more grounded and kind.

"I don't think so," the brunette said with a shake of his head. "She's being doing it long before the fight with Number 1. Though maybe that made it worse. She did refuse to get anywhere near me after that fight when I tried to apologise."

"How long have you known her?" She said, her tone a lot more accusingly then she wanted it to be.

"Eh? I don't, not really. I think." The spiky haired youth confessed, looking deep in thought.

Mikoto just quirked her brow at him in confusion. What did he mean by that? He either knew her or didn't. It's not like he had amnesia, right?

"Ran into her a couple times at most." The boy continued at last. "But she left an impression you know. Someone teleporting to the other side of the road to avoid you when you meet them by chance on the street does that."

 _Sounds like Saten._ The chestnut haired girl sighed.

"So apologise for me, would you?" Looking pathetic as he begged, but somehow making it seem adorable.

Crossing her arms, Mikoto looked away and stammered, "I-I guess I can help you out. You're hopeless after all."

"Ha-ha, thanks Biri-biri!"

"D-Don't call me that!" The middle schooler demanded shooting him a glare.

Kamijou just offered her a teasing smile that had her blushing furiously as she looked away.

 _T-That smile…_

Ugh, why was her heart pounding so damn hard?!

A clearing throat caught the two teenagers' attention and Mikoto jumped in her seat. That however paled in comparison with Kamijou's response as he shot out of his seat and stood at rigid attention.

The person who had caught their attention just quirked her brow. It was a older teenager with a slim physique, long straight black hair, and black eyes. She was wearing a tight-fitting bodysuit with gray, white and red details that seemed to be the Black Crow Unit's uniform.

 _Wait a second, I remember her!_ Mikoto's eyes widened at the older teenage girl and looked at her more closely. Specifically at the shapely form of her body that couldn't help but make the younger Esper feel jealous.

"Kamijou-san, please have a seat." She said in a no nonsense tone.

"Y-Yes." He nervously said as he complied.

"Now, I'm sorry but I going to have to keep this brief so let me just get to the point." The older girl said, and both Mikoto and Kamijou nodded in acceptance. Considering her people had been attacked, she must be very busy. "My name is Sequenzia Shutaura and I am the leader of the Black Crow Unit, a-"

"A Dark Side outfit masquerading as a legitimate private security organization hired by the City to supplement Anti-Skill's forces." Mikoto cut in with just a hint of rebuke.

Sequenzia narrowed her eyes but nodded. "Number 3 told you that?"

The middle schooler nodded.

Kamijou meanwhile just looked lost. "Dark Side?"

"The City's black ops forces and their operations, basically." Sequenzia offered the boy. "Considering your dealings with it, I'm surprised you don't know this."

"Oh! That! I've just never heard the name is all." Kamijou covered unconvincingly.

 _Maybe he really does have amnesia._

"Well, whatever the case, I'd like to thank you both for your assistance in the attack earlier."

Both good samaritans perked up a little at the praise.

"That said, despite your abilities you two are both civilians first and foremost." She stated sternly, fixing a glare on them. "So I must ask that the two of you refrain from any further involvement in this Incident."

"I don't think so." Kamijou said, frowning at his fellow brunette, "If I can help, I will."

Sequenzia looked at him in bewilderment, as if he wasn't real. Soon, she sighed in frustration and slammed her hand down on the nearby table, "Listen, and listen well Kamijou. Just because you have that [Imagine Breaker] of yours, doesn't mean you're invulnerable. All it takes is one. Bullet. This isn't a game, boy."

And all Mikoto saw was the boy shrugging nonchalantly.

"When has that stopped me before?"

Shaking her head, her long hair swaying, she turned to Mikoto.

"Now onto you. Just because Namikaze does these types of things, it doesn't mean you should follow in her footsteps. After what happened recently, I would have thought you would keep your head down."

Mikoto bristled. Who was this girl who was barely older than she was to talk to her like that? Like she was just a little kid that needed to be told not to misbehave.

"And who gave you the right to order us to do anything?" Mikoto challenged defiantly, standing to glare at the long haired girl.

"The fact that I'm a duly appointed commanding officer of one of the City's security organizations." Sequenzia shot back immediately.

That took the wind out of the [Railgun]'s sails. As much as she hated to admit it, the Black Crow unit might be a Dark Side group but it was still a totally legitimate and duly appointed organ of the City's security apparatus. Which meant that Sequenzia as their leader _did_ in fact have the right to order them to not get involved.

Kamijou looked as happy with that as she did. None at all. As evidenced by the deep scowl on his face. They both nevertheless agreed with Sequenzia's demand and let her escort them out of the building, all while silently fuming.

On the street outside, the two exchanged a look.

"No way, I'm letting a bunch of outsiders do whatever they want in _my_ city." Mikoto told him firmly. "You in?"

"Yeah. Those bastards attacked in broad daylight when there were plenty of innocent bystanders. There's no way I'm letting people like that get away without a punch to the face."

Mikoto felt her cheeks puff out as she giggled at how gung-ho he was.

"So what do we do now?"

"First step is to hunt those magicians down."

 _Magicians? Really? Is magic real now?_ Mikoto rolled her eyes. Those were clearly some kind of constructs created by some weird Esper ability. _Should I add delusional to the possible amnesia?_

Unaware of her dismissive thoughts, Kamijou continued unabated. "I know someone that might know something that could help us. I'll go talk to her and then call you back to let you know what I found out. That good?"

"Um, I don't h-have your number." She told him, her cheeks pink as she pulled out her cellphone. Her Gekota strap jangling and catching his attention for a moment, making her cheeks turn tomato red.

"C-Cute phone strap." He stammered as he rubbed the back of his head as he took the phone and keyed in his contact details. "Yeah. I never give you my number, huh?"

"Nope." She replied and coughed into her hand, "K-Keep in touch?"

The boy just nodded as he sent himself a missed call from her phone, before handing it back.

"Let's just hope I don't lose this one." He chuckled weakly.

 _He better not!_ She heatedly thought.

"Ok, I better get going. My informant is probably hungry by now and I better get her something nice if I want anything useful out of her."

 _Why does that sound less like an informant and more like a girlfriend?_ The Level 5 fumed, her eyes narrowing.

"Don't look at me like that! It's not my fault that chibi nun is a glutton!" The boy defended himself with a stream of nonsense.

That said, his reaction had her catching herself and she couldn't help but question her behavior.

 _Why am I acting so self-conscious?_ Mikoto thought as she squirmed where she stood.

"J-Just get going already!"

"Right!" Kamijou said as he sprinted away.

The girl meanwhile just stood there for a long moment staring at the number in her phone and smiling pleasantly.

"Hehe!" Mikoto cheered and began walking down the street with a skip in her step.

* * *

 _I can't head back to the dorms. If I did Kuroko would definitely find out about this and demand to get involved._ And as much as she knew her friend would only be doing so to help keep her safe, she couldn't bring herself to drag her into this Incident. Partly because she was still guilty about what she'd made the Teleporter do for her during the Sisters Incident - something she'd gotten quite the earful for doing - but selfishly also because she didn't want to share her time with Kamijou with someone else. Not that she would admit it to anyone.

Not at all!

Despite this, she wasn't going to let the boy do everything either. She was a Level 5 and she sure as hell could pull her own weight.

So what if Kamijou had his own informant? So did she!

"Saten, I hope you have something." Mikoto said as she dialed up her kohai.

" _Hello, Sempai?"_ The Number 3 greeted breathlessly as she answered the call.

"Hi. Did I call at a bad time?" The older girl asked, curious about what could leave the younger girl sounding so tired.

" _I'm taking a quick break from my self-defense class."_

Mikoto was speechless for a moment before she said, "I'm sorry, what?"

" _My self-defense class. I'm currently learning Krav Maga."_

"Why would you need something like that? And even if you did why only learn it now? I mean, didn't your handlers get you to learn it when you worked for the City?" Mikoto rattled off a string of questions, her curiosity getting the better of her.

In reply, Saten just gave a mechanical, humorless chuckle. One that sent a chill down Mikoto's spine. Her friend only ever fell back on being a robot when she was feeling extreme emotions. And if she was reading the context and tone right… This time she was furious.

" _I don't work for the City, Sempai. I work for myself. Besides, it's not like the Dark Side offers lessons to its assets. We're nothing more than disposable tools for the power brokers that set up the various outfits. I'm making up for lost time."_ Saten ranted in her mechanical voice.

"But that doesn't make any sense! I mean you're a Level 5, why wouldn't they train you to be the best you could possibly be?"

" _Of course, they do. But only to do the specific task they wanted out of us. Since we came with prepackaged useful skills like our powers, that's all they focused on developing. For everything else? Well, there were other assets to meet those needs."_

 _That actually makes some sense…_ Mikoto admitted grudgingly. From the power brokers' perspective why waste resources making a tool all rounded when they could just hire others to make up any shortfalls that it might have.

" _Naru-san has it slightly better than most, but even she only received enough training to meet the task she was assigned."_

"And that is?"

" _Academy City's blunt enforcer."_

Mikoto's lips pursed at that, their little friend was far more than some thug!

"And what was your purpose?" Mikoto asked even as she dreaded the answer.

" _The City's living weapon. One they could point at their enemies and be sure would leave a trail of destruction it its wake as it eliminated the target."_

Mikoto's blood chilled at Saten describing herself like that.

" _What use was teaching us how to manage our emotions on the battlefield, to learn useful skills like intel gathering and tactics? So long as we operated fine in our given roles, the penny pinching higher ups didn't care. Hah! Anything we did learn about those things we had to learn ourselves or on our own initiative."_ Her friend continued, her tone getting ever more robotic as her diatribe got her more and more angry.

Mikoto gripped the phone tightly.

 _After all they do for this City. They seem to think of them as nothing but tools. Even I'm one to them._

It wasn't fair.

Then again when had it ever been fair?

"So you girls aren't like James Bond?" Mikoto joked weakly, trying her best to bring some levity to the dark conversation.

Saten gave a weak laugh, but one that was thankfully not as stilted as the tone she had been using before now.

" _So why did you call me, Sempai?"_

Wanting to get away from their current topic, Mikoto took the cue and with a sigh explained the reason behind her call, "A building was attacked earlier. There were these Shaolin monks-"

" _Ah, those Magicians. They're from Donglin Temple actually, not Shaolin."_

"What?"

" _Donglin is another monas-"_

"Not that! You mean they were actual magicians?"

" _Ah. Yes, magic is real."_

And like that, Mikoto felt her world shatter just a little more, made worse by the way her friend just kept rambling on about the mechanics behind the monks' magic.

" _Those monks for example were using Idol Theory and their unique brand of magic to materialize certain spirits from the Phases of the world that house the Buddhist heavens. In particular, those Guardian Lions were actual Guardian Lions from the court of the Buddhist gods and those Qilin, those dragon and horse hybrids, and the winged Pixiu were from their preserves. It's a fascinating branch of ma-"_

"What the hell! Magic is real? Come on, Saten, don't tease me." Her face colored at the clear joke.

" _...Sempai, you know I am not good at 'teasing' you. That's Naru-san's job."_

"You sure they weren't just the product of some strange Esper ability?" Mikoto asked desperately.

" _No, it wasn't. It's the horseshoe theory in action."_

"But-"

" _As Arthur C. Clarke said, 'any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.' In this case the inverse is also true, any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology."_

"Ah." Mikoto replied automatically, still unable to wrap her head around the revelation.

" _The quote is not a perfect fit I know. But substitute technology for Esper powers, though those technically are a type of technology anyways, and it works."_

"Change of topic!" Mikoto demanded as she felt her head melting from thinking about how to squeeze magic into her worldview.

" _Aw! I wanted to see how long I could keep melting your brain."_ Saten said with an uncharacteristic teasing voice. _"I've been looking forward to this oppurtunity for ages."_

"Ha ha." Mikoto dryly laughed, "Leave that to Namikaze. Speaking of her, does she know about that stuff too?"

" _Of course! Dealing with magical threats to the City is her speciality."_

"Then why isn't she dealing with this?"

" _She's on another mission at the moment. One with [Melterdowner] and her team."_

"But she tried to kill her!"

" _She wouldn't dare now. No doubt Naru-san has scared that woman straight."_

 _I don't even want to know what she did._ Mikoto shook her head.

" _Besides, if she tries anything… I'm always only a couple teleports away."_

"You're spying on them?"

" _Of course. Naru-san is my friend. She understands me and I will protect her."_

"Don't be so proud of that, damnit! We like our privacy you know."

Saten just chuckled.

" _Anyways, before you ask I can't tell you the details of her mission except that it's on the Dark Side. Know though that if she wasn't already busy, she'd have dealt with these Chinese upstarts already."_

"Right." Mikoto replied uncertainly. She knew the Chibi was powerful, but Saten was implying that she would handily have dealt with those monks and after seeing what they were capable of… Well, the Number 5 wasn't too sure. Individually they weren't that big of a threat, but as a group? She doubted even Namikaze would find it a walk in the park.

"So one last thing."

" _Can it be quick? My instructor is getting impatient."_

"Right, sorry." Mikoto apologised, realizing that her earlier reaction to the revelation of magic had taken quite a bit of time. "Just wanted to know why you're avoiding Kamijou. Oh! And he apologises if he offended you if that's why."

" _He didn't offend me. I avoid him because one touch from his right hand could kill me. I would lose all my powers and since most of my consciousness exists in my AIM body that they maintain, if that happened it could literally destroy my mind."_

 _Well that got pretty morbid._ The girl shivered. _Right. Mental note: Keep Kamijou as far away from Saten as possible._

" _Anything else, Sempai. If not…"_

"Nothing else. Have fun, Saten."

" _And you take care, Sempai. I'll call you back after my class to tell you where you can find the magicians."_

Mikoto blinked, she'd completely forgotten to ask about that.

Before she could thank the other Level 5 for her thoughtfulness, she ended the call. In its wake, Mikoto was left discomforted by all the revelations the conversation had dropped on her. Shaking her head to clear those thoughts, she focused her attention on the problem at hand.

"Deal with these Chinese first."

She could worry about the rest later.

* * *

Later that night, Mikoto and Kamijou found themselves sneaking through the abandoned part of the amusement park in District 6 that had been scheduled for redevelopment. Walking through the shuttered section of the zoo area with its lack of lighting and eerie shadows cast by the trees and empty various habitats, Mikoto couldn't help but think she was in some kind of horror movie.

"Are we sure this is the place?" The spiky haired boy whispered.

"Yes." Mikoto hurmpffed. It took a while, but Saten finally provided the location of the Chinese monks. After her martial arts class, her kohai had called her back and given her the intel as promised.

The chestnut haired girl was honestly a little upset that the other girl hadn't volunteered to come help, but was mollified that she would be watching the fight remotely just in case they ended up needing help.

 _This isn't like with the Number 1. I should be able to handle this just fine. No matter how_ magical _they are._

She still had trouble trying to wrap her head around the fact that magic was real. Or that apparently Saten was familiar enough with it to have developed a dislike for dealing with it. That being the reason she cited for not coming with them.

 _More Naru's area of expertise, she said. That magicians were scared of the Chibi._ The Number 5 recalled disbelievingly. _Like real. I'd bet my whole collection of Gekota merchandise that there's more to this 'dislike' than she's saying._

But like so many other things this Incident had brought to light, that was a worry for later. She had some Chinese to introduce to her railgun.

"That's the panda exhibit." Kamijou whispered as he pointed towards a large pit the size of a small sports stadium that they could see the Chinese had pitched a couple dozen tents in. "Looks like Number 3 was right."

"How?"

"Who else would you call for information?" Kamijou said with a confused expression. "I mean she's like famous for being an info broker and she's your friend."

Mikoto blinked. She hadn't thought the brunette had become so well known for her sideline business.

Seeing her confusion, Kamijou put his hands up placatingly and continued. "I only know about her because my friend Stiyl bought a few leads from her once. I promise it's still a secret. Mostly. I think."

"You're not exactly convincing. Now quiet." Mikoto whispered as they got closer to the exhibit.

Kamijou nodded, and promptly tripped on a loose paving stone. He stumbled a few awkward steps before knocking over a signboard that fell to the ground and creating a racket.

Mikoto sent him a glare as his clumsiness had utterly ruined their attempt at stealth. In turn, the unfortunate boy just laughed nervously.

How could anyone be so uncoordinated?

Shouts were heard from below and Mikoto tensed.

In an instant, the _magical_ summons materialized around them. All four of the snarling lions, eight fire breathing Qilin and five of the furious Pixiu - She had done her research on them after Saten revealed what they were - had them surrounded. The monks weren't far behind as they made acrobatic leaps, complete with the odd somersault, out of the panda exhibit.

Mikoto was starting to feel like they were in a bad Kung-Fu movie.

All they needed were subtitles.

"I'll take the summons! I can one-shot them!" Kamijou announced as he as ran forward towards one of the Qilins.

A monk moved to intercept him, but Mikoto was quicker. Her lightning struck the monk that tried to take the boy down.

"麒麟队处理她的闪电! (Qílín duì chǔlǐ tā de shǎndiàn/Qilin team deal with her lightning!)" One of the monks shouted out in Chinese. Immediately, the summons shuffled their formation, with the Qilins galloping forward.

Sadly for them, Kamijou struck one of the Qilins as it moved to the front of the pack. After reflecting on the last fight and her research on the summons, she'd figured that the lightning aligned Qilins could sense and maybe even counter her lightning. Having come to that realization, the two had agreed they were the most dangerous for them.

The duo fell into a pretty good rhythm. Kamijou would charge and take out the summons while Mikoto would use lightning bolts to force any monks that tried to intercept him to back off. Sometimes the Qilin managed to deflect her bolts, but at least they seemed too busy doing that to bother shooting fireballs at her. Plus Kamijou was a lot more prepared for the monks' Kung-Fu this time and put up enough of a defense when he was cornered to buy time for Mikoto to rescue him with a static bolt while the Qilin were still busy discharging.

Honestly of the summons, the dragon horses were the only things that had her worried. The Pixiu weren't a threat, not when they went down to simple static shocks or if the Qilin were on the ball and countered those, a railgun. Even the Guardian Lions for all that they were the most powerful of the summons the Chinese had, were too busy trying to run away from Kamijou to really be a threat.

As the fight continued though, it soon became a battle of attrition. Something that both of them noticed.

"Is it just me or was that the second time I took down a lion?" Kamijou asked as he ducked under the swing of a monk's staff before Mikoto knocked the offending Chinese man out with by throwing a signboard into his face with her powers. "Why the hell are there still four of them?"

"They must have backup idols!" Mikoto rationalized as she fired a railgun at one of the Pixiu that was diving at her. Its summoner had idiotically had it come in at a vector that put a monk - hopefully the stupid monk in question - right behind him, so with a smirk she fired her shot. It easily disintegrated the winged lion and continued towards the monk, but just as it was about to hit its target one of the Guardian Lions jumped in front of him and took the hit.

"That means they're bound to run out eventually!" Mikoto added even as Kamijou took advantage of the lion being temporarily disabled to charge it. The remaining two Pixiu swooped down to try to stop him but he punched both of them into non-existence with his right hand before landing one square onto the just recovered lion's jaw, shattering it too.

Some of them had already run out of backups it seemed, as there seemed to only be a couple Pixiu left, both of which freshly materialized after having just been taken out by Kamijou. The Qilin had taken losses too and only six remained. The [Railgun] had managed to take down quite a few of the monks too, but sadly their comrades had managed to wake them up with some kind of magic. The light show they did every time they treated their downed comrades was a dead giveaway.

Her census on their opposition was interrupted when one of the Qilins bounded out of formation, charging directly at Mikoto. The perpetual blaze that enshrouded its body burning at an unprecedented intensity and instilling a sense of dread in her as it galloped full speed at her.

 _It's going to self-destruct!_ Her brown eyes widened in shock before she prepared another railgun round to blow it away.

Her thumb flicked the dark coin, and the streak of orange energy soared at the Qilin. Sadly, one of the guardian lions jumped in front of the blast, taking the hit. As it regenerated through, the Qilin charged through its fellow construct and jumped at Mikoto.

Time felt as though it slowed to a crawl and the Level 5 built a electromagnetic charge around her as quickly as she could. Iron sand gathered rapidly as she shaped it into a makeshift wall at the last second just as the Qilin erupted into a explosion.

The blast was too powerful though and the wall was blown away by the explosion, sending Mikoto flying. She tumbled along the ground and hissed in pain. Thankfully while the last ditch defense hadn't held it had absorbed the brunt of the explosion. That plus the hardened electromagnetic field she'd wrapped around herself had saved her.

The middle schooler scrambled to her feet, but the moment she did, her face exploded in pain as a staff struck her.

Such a blow should have broken her nose and knocked her out, at the bare minimum. But the still intact EM field around her body had saved her from that by acting as makeshift armor.

 _I better keep this on. I really don't want to get hit by one of these guys outside of it. Their strikes hurt enough as is._ Mikoto grimaced which sent a burst of pain coursing through her body from her hurt face.

The monk who had attacked her, looked surprised she was still standing. He quickly shook it off though and twirled his bo-staff to level it at her. With a smirk he came at her once again. With some electromagnetic assistance, the Number 5 used a series of impossible gymnastics to evade the blows.

As she did this, the Esper subtly gathered iron sand.

Dodging left from another blow, Mikoto panted. In contrast, the monk attacking her didn't even look winded!

Kamijou wasn't doing much better as a group of monks had managed to surround him. He looked pretty banged up and Mikoto ground her teeth at that.

"Leave him alone!" She shouted as she judged that she'd gathered enough iron sand to spring her trap.

With a burst of computations and an application of will, a ferric tidal wave exploded out of the nearby aquarium. It towered over them and came crashing down on a couple of monks in its path before reaching back up to its full height and continuing to roll across the battlefield.

"Thank goodness for lazy cleaners." Mikoto mused with a smirk. Almost all of the iron sand had come from the undisposed leftover sand from the various empty tanks in the abandoned aquarium. If they'd been cleared like they were supposed to be… Well, then this would be a lot harder.

Unfortunately, before it could do anymore damage, a monk managed to knock Kamijou right into the wave's path. He tried to get away, but two other monks blocked his path, leaving him trapped.

Cursing, Mikoto tried to move it out of the way in time, but the boy had already held out his right hand. As it made contact with that mysterious limb, Mikoto's trump card collapsed.

"Sorry!" He shouted even as the wave of sand all but buried him.

Seeing the boy stuck, all the monks turned towards Mikoto.

A bead of sweat rolled down the back of her neck as they released a warcry and charged.

The Tokiwadai student flung her hands forward as the clouds above them darkened and crackled.

With a roar, the heavens split and delivered a massive lightning bolt down upon the warrior monks.

Some of the monks saw this and concentrated. In response, all the surviving Qilins reared back on their hind legs, their horns held high as the lightning was drawn to them.

And just like that, her lightning bolt had been grounded.

"不错, 小姑娘, 但你是否真的认为那会成功?" (Bùcuò, xiǎo Guniang, dàn nǐ shìfǒu zhēn de rènwéi na huì chénggōng/No bad, little lady, but did you honestly think that would work?)

They were taunting her, Mikoto could figure that much out. In desperation, she lashed out with lightning bolts she'd generated herself. Bombarding the monks as her mind tried to formulate a new plan of attack.

The Qilin stepped up once more and deflected the bolts harmlessly out of the way, even as the monks and the other summons encircled her.

Mikoto rummaged her pockets for more ammo for her railgun but came up empty, she'd exhausted her supply.

 _Crap! Now what do I do?_ Mikoto thought with a nervous frown as the monks and their monstrous familiars formed a tight circle around her.

 _Come on, think! These guys are trained fighters. They have magical constructs to aid them. What can I do to stop them? Lightning is out as long as those Qilins are around. Wait, they're monks! They're merciful, right? Like in the movies?_

It was a real stretch, but Mikoto didn't have much of a choice. Just as they started to begin tightening their encirclement, she fell to her knees and cried out, "Please don't hurt me!"

It hurt her pride a bit, but she tried her best to look as pathetic as possible. Her body shivered and the girl did her best to blink out some tears.

That seem to halt the approaching monks, some even looked uncomfortable while others looked at her resentfully.

"她只是一个小女孩。我们不应该伤害她。我们把她放了吧。(Tā zhǐshì yīgè xiǎo nǚhái. Wǒmen bù yìng gāi shānghài tā. Wǒmen ba tā fàngle ba/She's just a little girl. We should not hurt her. Let's let her go.)" One said while looking at his compatriots hopefully.

"你疯了吗？她是 [轨道炮]! 我们不能让她走！(Nǐ fēngle ma? Tā shì [Guǐdào pào]! Wǒmen bùnéng ràng tā zǒu!/Are you crazy? She's the [Railgun]! We can't just let her go!)"

As they began to argue in rapid Chinese, Mikoto had concocted a new plan.

"够了! 我们不是野蛮人, 把她放了！(Gòule, wǒmen bùshì yěmán rén, Ba tā fàngle!/ Enough! We are not barbarians, release her!)" One of the monks said. He seemed to be the leader as all discussion ended once he'd spoken.

Unfortunately for the Chinese, that was when she finished subtly snaking her iron sand along the ground and into strategic positions. Muttering under her breath, she sprang her trap. "I hope I don't go to Hell for this."

Suddenly, iron sand shot out from behind planters, trash bins and any conveniently out of sight place that Mikoto had been able to stuff it and proceeded to grab onto the monks. They cried out in alarm even as the sand began encasing them while forming tendrils that coiled around their constructs.

Some of the summons managed to rip themselves free and try to charge at her, much to her annoyance, but thankfully she ensnared them again easily enough. Their masters didn't have such luck and none of the monks managed to escape the cocoons that Mikoto trapped them within. Clenching her fists tightly, Mikoto proceeded to direct her sand to begin smothering the kungfu warriors into unconsciousness.

One by one, the constructs began to disappear. A noticeable sign that that she had successfully knocked out the summoner.

 _Or at least I hope that's what happened._ Mikoto fretted as the last of the summons vanished.

"Whoa, nice going." Kamijou said as he finally dug himself out of the pile of sand he had been buried under.

"Yeah." Mikoto breathed a sigh of relief as she leaned against a railing.

Moments later, the Black Crow Unit rolled in on their tricycles with a large spider-like tank taking point.

The hatch of the lead tank opened and Sequenzia jumped out. Her eyes formed into a striking glare as she marched up to the two. Already, the Black Crows were blocking off the area and orders were being shouted in the background.

"What did I tell you two?" Were her first words, there was a clear edge to her tone that promised consequences of some kind, "I specifically and officially ordered you two to-"

Her sentence was cut off as the iron sand cocoons containing the monks erupted into vermillion flames.

Everyone shielded their eyes from the blast.

"W-What happened?!" Mikoto stammered, her eyes wide as the bright light dimmed. The iron sand seemed to have melted together into a misshapen clump that was still glowing yellow from the extreme heat.

Sequenzia clicked her tongue, her eyes narrowed in annoyance, "Just like the ones from earlier in the day. Once captured and with no escape, their superiors make sure they cannot talk or have their bodies be used in experiments."

Mikoto didn't heat whatever the brunette girl said, instead her eyes were locked on the charred and melted body of the monk in the nearest cocoon. The sight was too much for the middle schooler and she collapsed to her knees and began retching.

Mikoto's hearted twisted painfully, _I only wanted to capture them. I didn't mean for them to die._

Sighing, the young paramilitary leader bent down to offer the Tokiwadai student's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"This is why I told you to not get involved. You've been lucky so far in your dealings with it, but the Dark Side is not pleasant place."

In contrast to Mikoto, Kamijou handled things much better. Biting his lip and clenching his fists tightly, he whispered. "I don't know who did this. But one day I'll find them and shatter the illusion that they get the right to kill people."

"Hmph! Welcome to how the world works, Kamijou." The black-hearted City officer told him.

Were these the kinds of situations that Namikaze and Saten had to deal with? It was a shudder inducing thought and the electromaster couldn't comprehend how the two could deal with it for so long.

Once more, she was reminded of how warped their mentalities were.

All the [Railgun] could hope was that she would never end up like her kohai.

 _All I can do is help them...and try not to drown in this horrible world myself..._

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless as always.**

 **Alright, so this was a pretty battle heavy chapter. Hope it was enjoyable to all of you.**

 **I really enjoyed the interaction between Mikoto/Touma/Shutaura because they are fun to write about. The combination of Shutaura's bluntness, Mikoto grumpiness, and Touma's Toumaness is a blast. Now if only Naru was there as well, things would have been funny.**

 **The monks did pretty good work on the two, but it wasn't enough to take on Touma and Mikoto. Sure, they had a strategy to defeat them, but the two were just able to take the blows and fight back. The kungfu monks also just had some bad luck. I mean who puts an aquarium nearby the pandas? Truly, zoos are a danger for all. Leave it to Academy City to cheap out on a zoo of all things.**

 **Nameless: So a couple of reviewers were misunderstanding what it means to be a Dark Sider. It seems they got the impression that Dark Siders are all rounded Special Forces operators or super spies like James Bond. However, from what we can deduce from canon this isn't the case. And you guys should know by now that we're trying our best to keep to it as much as possible. Anyways, our interpretation is that Dark Side outfits, outside of paramilitary groups like Hound Dog and the Black Crow Unit, don't actually bother to train their members much if at all.**

 **I mean just look at how unbalanced every canon non-paramilitary Dark Sider is. Do they look like they went through training to keep a cool head when they go on missions and are liable to see disturbing stuff? Plus don't they all seem like one-trick ponies centred around their abilities? Well, you can guess our answers to that. From there, we extrapolated that the higher ups in the City want them to exactly be this: unstable, untrained tools for specific purposes (which thus limits their abilities as a whole). They probably think it makes them easier to control or is part of some experiment that Aleister is running.**

 **It also saves them a pretty penny because training a James Bond type spy (if it's even possible) or Spec Ops operator is expensive. It's probably much cheaper (from their short sighted perspective of seeing the Dark Siders as throwaway resources) to just hire whichever outfit(s) best fits their needs at the moment.**

 **Plus, there's also the time factor to take into account. Every Dark Sider either has a Esper power, Magical ability or unique skill that they need to hone and refine all while (in most cases) maintaining a cover identity as a student to some extent or other. Where in the world would they find the time to diversify their skills?**

 **E4E: Yeah. Literally all I can say since Nameless said the entire spiel.**

 **You know what to do, smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Twenty One: Cosplay Revolution**

 **Beta:**

* * *

In the dead of night, when most people and their prying eyes were fast asleep, a lone trailer truck plied the roads of Academy City carrying its cargo from the airport in School District 23 to its unknown destination.

It was a common enough scene and one that was hardly noteworthy.

This however changed as the quiet of the night was abruptly shattered by the sound of an explosion. The blast tore the trailer apart and sent the front of the truck careening to the side of the road and only coming to a stop upon impacting the concrete barrier at the side of the highway overpass that it had been driving upon.

Despite the powerful impact, the superb engineering of the Capital of Science held and the driver and lone passenger of the wrecked vehicle managed to safely, if shakily, exit the ruined truck cab. The passenger, a scientist if his lab coat was any indication, immediately reached with a trembling hand for his pocket. He had barely pulled his phone out when a stream of raw fire engulfed it and the hand that had been holding it.

"Ah!" He wailed out as he clutched the charred remains of his right hand. Even as he all but collapsed as a result of the agony he was being subjected to, his attacker stepped into his line of sight.

Looking up at her, he couldn't help but swallow dryly.

She was a teenage girl in a typical sailor uniform that consisted of a white blouse, a crimson sailor collar, a pleated skirt and was completed by a black necktie. She didn't look particularly threatening.

But looks could be deceiving. Especially here in Academy City and the scientist knew full well just how deadly this particular school girl could be.

"W-What are you doing?" He stammered, partly in fear but mostly because of the pain.

"Silence, Scum!" Her voice cracked like a whip as she waved her hand.

At the gesture, fire streamed from the inferno that had engulfed the trailer and coalesced into a fireball with him as the center. As he screamed in agony, several other teenagers walked up to the girl. In one of their arms was a tightly wrapped bundle.

For a moment, the driver looked transfixed as the scientist burned to death. It didn't last long though and he quickly regained enough of his wits for him to scramble to his feet and run for his life while screaming in terror.

One of the teenagers pulled a playing card out of his pockets and raised it in preparation to throw it at the fleeing driver, but the girl waved him off.

"Let him go, we've got what we needed."

"If you say so, Boss."

* * *

Naru sat on a comfy couch as she twiddled her thumbs, feeling anxious. She was in the middle of an appointment with one of the career guidance counselors hired by Tokiwadai. Despite being a Middle School, the academy strongly believed in inculcating in its students the need for forward planning. As such, it brought in career guidance specialists every year to help the girls review their academic progress and map out what they would need to do to qualify for whatever occupation they might want to pursue when they entered the job market.

"Well, your grades seem to be stellar as always. And your power assessment records look fine as well."

 _At least the parts that aren't covered in black ink._ Naru mentally quipped.

"Do you have an idea of what you're planning to do once you finish school?"

"I don't know currently. I-I'm still considering some things." The blonde responded, her face wrinkled as she tried and failed to come up with a proper answer.

"What am I saying?" The counselor said with a laugh even as she waved her hands dismissively. "It's not like any of this really matters to you. You're a Level 5, you'll have plenty of options."

"That's…"

 _Not true?_ Naru wanted to say but cut herself off.

It was not like she could reveal to the woman that thanks to her part-time job, her job options were a lot more limited than most of her peers. For as the saying went, once a Dark Sider always a Dark Sider. No matter what the blonde chose to do later in life, she knew that she'd never be truly able to escape the legacy of her blood soaked past.

 _Just look at Ruiko-chan._

Not that she wanted to leave it behind. At least, not yet. But seeing her friend's experience, she was slowly coming to the unsettling realization that she might never be given the chance to do so.

The thought got her agitated enough to have her small hands tighten into fists as her shoulders shook.

"Namikaze-san? Are you alright? You have no need to worry, I promise you."

 _And how would you know?!_ Naru barely held back from snapping. This woman didn't know the first thing about the Dark Side, about Naru's true circumstances. How could an ignorant civilian who only knew the embrace of the light tell a denizen of the dark like her anything about her future?

"Um. Right. Thank you." Naru told the woman while offering her the best smile she could fake while her mind was in turmoil. "Can I go?"

The woman considered this for a moment, before nodding.

"Yes, frankly I don't even know why the administration wanted me to see you anyway. There's really no need considering your circumstances."

Naru just nodded, keeping her smile on as she stood.

"Thank you for your time." The Number 2 said with a polite bow before leaving the office as quickly as politely possible. The encounter had made her ask herself some pretty uncomfortable questions that she really wanted to get somewhere private to think about.

* * *

Sadly, Naru wasn't given much time to reflect as she'd barely left the counselor's room when she received a call from her handlers.

"What is it?" Naru asked brusquely, she was in no mood for games with the dicks on the other end of the line at the moment.

" _You have a job."_ The man on the phone replied unconcerned by the Esper's irate tone.

"Just send me th-"

 _"Not this time."_ The man cut her off. _"You'll be working with ITEM on this op and you need to meet up with them for a joint briefing."_

 _Just great! As if this day couldn't get more annoying, now I have to work with [Meltdowner]!_ Naru thought to herself as she gritted her teeth in frustration. _This when she tried to kill me just a few days ago._

She was however too much of a professional to voice her complaints.

"Cliff notes?"

" _A team has gone rogue. You're to eliminate them."_

"Because that's what I do best." Naru rolled her eyes but sighed. "Location for the meeting?"

" _When the call ends you'll be sent the location."_

"Alright. Have a wonderful day." She chirped with false cheer.

Her handler hung up without a word and Naru stared sourly at her phone.

"And so my hands grow more bloodstained." She mused sadly as she pulled up the text with the address for the location of their meetup.

"Well, no point to put this off. Once more into the fires of hell, I guess." Naru said with a sigh as she began teleporting towards the location sent to her.

* * *

The site of the meeting turned out to be a nondescript building where she was then escorted into an equally bland meeting room. She was the last to arrive and as she sat down opposite of the team that she was supposed to work with for this mission, Naru's blue eyes stared at ITEM's leader, Shizuri Mugino.

The older woman still seemed to be as haughty as ever. Mild annoyance came over the blonde as she remembered how the other Level 5 had attempted to kill her during their brief fight when Naru had been out trying to save Misaka-sempai from her own stupidity. Hopefully, the Number 6 could show some professionalism this time and not try anything funny on this job.

Taking a calming breath, Naru addressed ITEM as a whole, "So do any of you know the context of the mission? All I know is some Dark Sider outfit went rogue."

Frenda, the cute scared bunny that she was, opened her mouth but was cut off by Mugino's laughter.

"You know nothing? Well, not all that surprising for a mere attack dog."

Naru raised a delicate blonde brow as she retorted, "Know nothing, huh? Funny, I remember knowing enough to save a bunch of scrubs from drowning during a certain Carrier Incident a while back."

The Esper with the supermodel figure shut her mouth and her face twisted into a look of absolute rage.

"Why you little-!"

" _Am I interrupting something?"_ A coldly dangerous voice asked as the flat screen display set into one side of the room turned itself on to reveal a older gentleman shrouded in shadows.

Mugino subsided immediately and put on a polite smile. "Nothing at all."

Naru's eyes narrowed at the volatile woman's reaction. _He must be the client._

"Just asking for some context. Mind filling me in?" Naru brazenly asked the man on the screen.

" _There is no need to worry yourself, Namikaze-san. Your mission is merely to eliminate the targets. ITEM will retrieve the package. You are not to interfere with their mission nor will you pry. That is all."_

"So I'm just here as a courtesy to the Superintendent?"

" _Precisely. Your mission just happened to be complementary to the one I had already hired ITEM for, as such to make things simpler we decided to have you work together. That said, your missions remain separate and involve completely different objectives. Do not forget that."_

"Alright, I'll do as I'm asked." Naru simply shrugs, inwardly annoyed she couldn't find out more.

That certainly brought a smug smile to Mugino's face as it seemed her team would be the 'stars' of this operation.

 _Let her be in the limelight. All the better if she screws up._ Naru thought with a roll of her eyes at older teen's behavior.

" _With that out of the way, let's get down to business."_ The shadowy man turned to ITEM. _"I believe I will not need to repeat my earlier instructions?"_

"No," Mugino shook her head.

The man nodded, before continuing. _"Well then let's begin going through your expected opposition on this particular operation."_

The image on the screen suddenly changed to display the photos of four people.

" _These four are the rogue outfit Cosplay."_

 _Cosplay? Really?_ Naru noted, smothering the urge to giggle at the silly name. She could laugh about it later but for now she needed to maintain her professional mask.

On the screen, three of the photos disappeared and one in particular grew to fill half of the screen. It showed a mousy looking girl dressed in a plain school uniform that Naru didn't recognize with a cold and calculating look in her eyes. She looked high school age at best.

" _This is their leader, Fuschida Atsuko. More details have been provided to you but for now review what is on the screen."_

According to the short bio next to her photo her ability was Energy Collector, which allowed her to manipulate radiation. Specifically she could collect high energy particles and condense them. Apparently she'd developed a technique using this ability that she called [Melchsee's Door].

 _Where have I heard that name? I think it was from a manga, but I can't remember._

The technique involved her using her ability to collect energy into energetic concentrations that appeared as glowing orbs that orbit around her body. She then used the concentrated energy to fire off various attacks. She was however limited in that as a Level 4 the maximum amount of energy she could collect together was relatively low. Quickly running the math for the listed energy levels, Naru concluded that in order to tank one of [Meltdowner]'s shots she needed to siphon its combined power into three separate concentrations.

 _That's honestly still pretty good for a Level 4._

She was also limited however by the fact that whenever she attacked she needed to fire all the energy she'd collected in a single concentration. Though she somewhat made up for this weakness by being able to create three concentrations at any given time.

 _Energy Collector, huh?_ Naru mused as she finished looking over the ability. While she may be a Level 4 she could give [Meltdowner] a decent fight. _A pretty serious look in her eyes too. Wonder if she's another crazy though?_

Fuschida's data disappeared and was replaced with that of a tall teenage boy in a leather jacket. He wore a shirt and necktie paired with a pair of jeans and stylish black shoes.

" _This is Takizawa Rinji. Fuschida's second in command."_

He was a Level 3 with a power classified officially as Temporal Hyperperception but which he seemed to have coined [Bullet Time].

It was a hybrid of Precognition and Clairvoyance that allowed him to dramatically increase his perception of time and gave him the ability to perceive his environment at a greatly accelerated rate. This translated into bursts of superhuman reaction times that he used to enhance his martial arts and gunplay. He favored a pair of Berettas that he dual wielded. He also seemed to be addicted to painkillers despite ironically having an absurd tolerance of pain due to an injury to his nervous system.

 _Okay, I'm starting to see why they're called Cosplay. Their Esper powers are all out of manga and videogames._ Naru shook her head as the slideshow continued.

It shifted to show a man wearing a suit of green armor with a fishbowl helmet and a purple cape. A small inset photo showed him without the outrageous helmet on and revealed him to be a pale teenager whose face was covered in scars.

" _This costumed reject is Andrew Schnitter."_ The shadowy gentleman announced as the transition finished.

Schnitter was a Level 4 with a ability called Trick Art that allowed him to create optical illusions. He was apparently good enough at his illusions such that when cast over people they were not even aware of the fact. Something that involved quite a bit of complicated light bending. As if that wasn't enough, it seemed that to make his illusions even more believable he liked to combine his power with the use of smoke laced with drugs that disorientated his victims and made them more susceptible to being manipulated. In particular, he tended to use drugs that caused temporary loss of hearing to make it harder on his victims see through his illusions. The bio added that once he had his targets under his thrall, he tended to take them out through the use of robots.

 _Leave it to the big shoots to have all the ins and outs on Dark Siders' powers. No doubt they have more than a few counters set aside for all us just in case we go rogue._ The Number 2 thought. _No doubt Accelerator is one of their major counters for the rest of us Level 5s._

It still begged the question what was the counter to the Number 1 himself.

Naru was pulled out of her musings as the shadowy gentleman switched the presentation over to the bio for the last member of Cosplay.

" _Lastly, there's Kusatsu Denbe."_

Kusatsu was a tall lanky teenage boy with dyed blonde hair and was dressed in a long trench coat. He was a Level 3 with the ability of Energy State which allowed him to convert the potential energy stored in an inanimate object into kinetic energy by agitating the otherwise stable subatomic particles in the object. This "charged" that item, usually resulting in it releasing a glow, but which ultimately led to highly explosive results. He apparently used playing cards as a medium for his powers just like Gambit from that X-Men comic.

 _Plus I doubt most would think of a playing card as something threatening, making it easier to trick his opponents into a false sense of security when he first pulls them out._ She mused as she mentally cataloged all her targets and hummed.

"Pretty diversified power set. Do they have a good track record? Any known infighting amongst them?" Naru asked the handler, searching for anything that she could use to her advantage.

" _Their track record is stellar and their cohesion is amongst the best."_

"I see. Thank you." Naru nodded as she wondered how much stranger the teams of Academy City could get.

"Really? With a name like that I can't imagine them being anything more than a joke." The tea haired girl seated across from Naru mocked while cracking a wicked smile, "They must have picked the name because they're all losers that cosplay as someone from pop culture. And just because they match their powers? How lame."

" _Do not underestimate them just because of their eccentricities, [Meltdowner]."_ The shadowy figure warned sternly.

"Yes, of course sir." Mugino's face turned to stone as her amusement died quickly.

 _Ha-Ha._ Naru thought childishly as she waited for the man to finish.

" _You have your missions. Do not fail."_

With that, the projection ended, leaving the girls alone in the room.

The two Level 5s turned to one another, and glared at each other. Each trying to wordlessly assert their dominance over the other as the tension in the room grew thick enough to choke a normal person.

In the background, the other members of ITEM squirmed uncomfortably. Each sweating uneasily as the standoff continued.

"We'll work together." Mugino said at last, without looking away. "We're all professionals here and can see how we would just waste our time duplicating our effort if we don't. Agreed?"

"Sounds good." Naru nodded, unconcerned that this effectively meant she lost their battle of wills. She'd got what she wanted. "So let's start planning our first moves."

ITEM all nodded.

"Takitsubo-san," Naru addressed [AIM Stalker], the core of ITEM. "You ever met any member of Cosplay?"

"Unfortunately not." The tired looking girl admitted. "Which means I can't track them."

Kinuhata shifted a bit in her seat and hesitantly said, "I um, kinda know Kusatsu."

"What?" Mugino snapped and the girl gulped.

"We super hang out once in awhile at some pubs, looking for trouble. I could probably set up a meet with him."

"Pubs?" Naru asked with an amused smirk. "Do you use fake IDs to get in?"

Naru doubted even that would be enough. Kinuhata was tiny. Heck, the girl was shorter than she was.

Kinuhata just shrugged. "Wouldn't get in even if I used one. Even the super illegal ones have standards. So I just wait outside, the places I frequent have enough trouble spilling out their doors to give me more than my fair share."

"You go there to pick fights?" Naru asked incredulously.

"What else are pubs good for?"

"Plenty of things, Saiai." Mugino said with a sigh. "But right now, their main usefulness will be as a trap for our little cosplaying friends."

"Um, I see a problem here." Frenda said nervously, eying both Naru and Mugino. She waited for either of them to snap at her but when neither did, the Caucasian girl continued. "Kinuhata, even if you can get in touch with them, they've gone into hiding. There's no way any one of them will crawl out of whatever hole they're in just to meet you."

"We could always call Ruiko-chan for some intel." Naru suggested to the group.

"Can't do any investigating on your own?" Mugino teased with a malicious smirk. "Are you reliant on Big Sister now?"

 _Trust a psycho to mangle a reference to 1984._ Naru thought with disgust at the other Level 5's lack of respect towards the literary classic.

"Funny you would say that, since you ask her for information too."

"But I'm hardly as reliant on her as you are." Mugino shot back, that damnable smirk still on her face

Naru glared at the older woman who returned the favor. Soon the two devolved into yet another heated staring match, even as Mugino's teammates looked on anxiously.

"Fine!" Naru conceded a minute later, tired of wasting time sparring with Mugino. "We'll go with Kinuhata's plan for now. I doubt it'll work, but if it does it'll save us a ton of trouble."

"Of course it will." Mugino declared confidently even as she radiated smugness at winning another round in their little war of wills. "Though in the meantime… Frenda!"

"Yes!" The beret wearing girl said as she sat up straight.

"Go hit up our contacts and see if they can dig up anything useful." [Meltdowner] ordered. "Just in case."

"Roger."

"Get going."

At the Number 6's command, her team slid off their chairs and walked out of the room presumably to do their parts in setting up their plan. This left the two Level 5s alone in the room.

"So once again all you've asked to do is to kill. Think you can handle it? You haven't gone soft on us, have you?" Mugino offhandedly commented.

"Soft?" Naru scoffed at the very notion, "I've been pretty active lately."

"So you haven't been playing the bleeding heart lately and running around playing savior?" The older woman asked with a taunting smile. "So it was a doppelganger that helped save [Multi-Skill]'s siblings? Or that naive [Railgun]?"

"Being in Ruiko-chan's good graces has its benefits. I'm sure you know." Naru retorted with a smirk. "It makes hunting down my targets so much easier."

Mugino laughed.

Same old attack dog, I see. Good." The older Esper said while smothering chuckles.

Naru didn't know why, but it ruffled her something bad.

 _I'm not, right?_

"What's this? Didn't know that's what we call you?" Mugino asked, apparently misreading Naru's discomfort. "What else do you call a merciless killer like you?"

 _Merciless killer?_ Naru's mind mulled over what her fellow Level 5 had called her. _Is that what I want to be?_

A worm of doubt wiggled in her stomach as her face grew stoic.

"Then again I've no room to talk, eh?" [Meltdowner] said with a psychotic grin splitting her face.

Naru had to lock her muscles to stop from recoiling in reflex. _Damn it! She's right. We're both just killers. Murderers. That's all we are._

"You're lucky, you know?" The deranged older girl continued. "Your mission is so much easier. You just need to kill the idiots. Me? I've still got all the other stuff to do."

"Yeah, just kill them and be done with it." The blonde said in a strained whisper.

 _I don't want to be a killer._ Naru realized as she looked into the bloodthirsty eyes of the older girl. _I don't want to be a murderous maniac like her. But… I can't spare them… Though maybe I_ can _make their deaths quick._

Naru stood up and stretched her arms, "I'm going to get ready."

"Right, right, get your head in the zone. I get it." Mugino said as she relaxed in her seat.

 _Yeah, head in the zone._ Naru thought as she left the room to clear her mind.

* * *

 _ **Yo, what's up?**_ Kurama asked sleepily as he woke up from the nap he'd been enjoying since yesterday.

 _Nothing._ Naru replied grumpily as she sat in her hiding spot behind an air conditioning unit as she and ITEM, minus Frenda, staked out a the area around a illegal pub located in the back alleys of _The Strange_. Much to the [Elemental Empress]' surprise, Kusatsu actually agreed to meet Kinuhata thus allowing Naru and her team to setup this little ambush.

 _ **I'm in your head. I know when something is up.**_

Naru sighed, _I don't know, just not in the mood for this._

For a moment she felt her demonic tenant ruffling through her head as he tried to figure just what "this" meant.

 _ **What? Last I checked you were always ready to do this.**_ The fox replied as he caught up with recent events.

Anger flashed through her face, _Well maybe I'm getting sick of it right now!_

 _ **What's changed since I took my nap?**_ The tailed beast asked sounding concerned.

 _I don't know. I just… I can't. I just don't know what I want right now._

 _ **We'll talk about this later.**_ The demon insisted. _**But right now you need to pay attention. It looks like your target has arrived.**_

Snapping her head down to look at the door to the pub across from which Kinuhata had been leaning against the wall waiting for their prey to show up, Naru saw that Kusatsu Denbe had indeed taken the bait.

Using chaka, she enhanced her hearing to eavesdrop.

"No thanks." Kinuhata said, as she pushed a packet of cigarettes that the boy had offered her away. "You _do_ remember I'm only twelve right? I'm like super underage."

"Old enough to kill, old enough to smoke." The boy said with a shrug as he pulled out a cancer stick from the packet and lit it.

"Takitsubo, can you sense anyone else from Cosplay nearby?" Naru asked over their radio.

" _No. I can't tell if any of them are here. I can however I.D. several other Espers. No less than ten match with the Levels from the debriefing."_

Naru clicked her tongue. It seemed Takitsubo's power was a lot less refined than Saten's.

 _Seems I really am spoiled by Ruiko-chan._ Naru pouted to herself.

" _Cut the chatter girls."_ Mugino's condescending voice carried over the radio. " _Namikaze, go search for interlopers the old fashioned way. Rikou, focus on getting a bead on Kusatsu. He'll lead us to his friends sooner or later."_

Naru frowned at being ordered around by the haughty [Meltdowner] but her instructions made sense, so she obliged and began her search by leaping across to the adjacent rooftop to check for any of the other targets. However, even as Naru begun parkouring across the area's rooftops she continued to pay attention to Kinuhata and Kusatsu's conversation.

Blowing out a cloud of smoke, the boy turned to Kinuhata.

"Why did you ask to meet out of the blue? It's not like you." The trench coat wearing teenager asked. "Our hangouts are usually more impromptu."

Kinuhata shrugged. "I felt like being super different today."

Kusatsu just nodded and took another puff on his cigarette.

Despite her focus on the conversation however, she did not let it distract her from her surroundings. Enhancing her senses with chakra she did her best to try and locate if any of Kusatsu's teammates were around and up to no good. She hadn't detected anything so far, and so tuned back into the chat outside the bar.

"So, you going to secondhand smoke me all day or what?" Kinuhata asked the boy.

Kusatsu dropped the cigarette and smothered it with his heel, "Sorry, just needed a fix before we hash out the heavy stuff."

"Uh, what do you mean by that?"

The boy sighed and looked at her seriously, "Have you ever felt the City's gone too far?"

The hoodie wearing girl cocked a brow, looking at him as if he was an idiot.

"Oh right! Sorry." Kusatsu said chuckling nervously. "I forgot for a moment that you're a survivor of the Dark May Project, aren't you?"

"Yeah, shut up. Right now." Kinuhata said sharply, clearly not wanting to bring that up.

Naru couldn't blame her. She'd heard all about the horror show that was _that_ particular experiment. It was one of the most infamous cases of the City's depravity.

"So what do you want then?" The girl grumbled at him.

"Just wanted to throw something out there to one of the City's many victims."

"Spit it out."

"Getting there." Kusatsu reassured her. "As I was saying, I was just wondering if you'd be willing to help out another such victim in his time of need?"

Suddenly, Naru's gut churned. She couldn't point out what had set it off but she was beginning to feel a growing sense of uneasiness.

"Girls, I have a bad feeling. Stay alert." Naru warned her allies.

" _Namikaze you're just being paranoid."_ Mugino dismissed as she focused on the conversation.

Suddenly white smoke began to fill up the whole area.

 _Kurama! Fight off the drugs._

 _ **On it!**_

"Oh yeah, just plain old paranoia huh?"

" _Kinuhata get Kusatsu now!"_ Mugino shouted into the radio but the hoodie girl didn't respond.

Naru turned to rush towards the tiny Level 4 when her radio crackled to life and gave voice to a clearly distressed Takitsubo.

" _Hey, um, I need help over here. I'm being chased by Mugino. She's under an illusion to look like a robot dog. Oh and I've suddenly become deaf."_

 _How can she sound so nonchalant about it?_ Naru questioned as she rushed to go help the laid back girl. In comparison to Kinuhata, the tracker had no combat ability whatsoever. Between helping one of the two, there was no question that she would prioritize the defenseless Takitsubo.

" _Damn him! This is Schnitter's doing."_ Mugino cursed over the radio.

"Now's not the time for that." Naru shouted back even though she knew that thanks to Schnitter's drugs it was unlikely anyone could hear her. "We need to go help the others."

Finally locating Takitsubo, Naru was greeted with a shocking scene. It looked like Schnitter was running away from a car sized dog robot.

However, that was only on the surface. A single whiff by Naru's enhanced sense of smell and she saw through the illusion. In reality, the fleeing Schnitter was Takitsubo while the robot was a crazed and disorientated Mugino.

 _ **She must be under the illusionist's control.**_ Kurama told her.

"Get back here, you coward!" [Meltdowner] shouted as she fired one of her trademark particle beams at Takitsubo.

Teleporting right next to the AIM tracker, Naru tackled the taller girl to the ground and narrowly saved her from having her upper body disintegrated by her team leader's attack.

"Mugino! Snap out of it!" Naru shouted as she slammed her hands into the roof and caused it to surge up and create a series of earthen walls between them. Walls that disintegrated as Mugino tore through them with her lasers.

It bought time though for Takitsubo to frantically push away from her with a terrified gasp and run away. Naru let her. The greater distance she put between herself and the out of control [Meltdowner], the better. Naru was much better equipped to deal with the crazed Level 5 than the defenseless tracker.

Thankfully, Mugino seemed to be of the same mind and turned her blurred eyes towards Naru instead of the fleeing Takitsubo.

"Stop with the illusions. Fight me you coward!" Mugino exclaimed as she fired another beam at the blonde.

The blonde was expecting it however and she unleashed lightning from her hand. The Number 2's lightning forked through the air and intercepted the particle beam, redirecting it harmlessly up into the sky.

The action caused the manipulated Mugino to pause in confusion as a voice rang out from the obscuring clouds of smoke.

" _I'm amazed you were able to do that. I can see why you're the Number 2, [Maniforce]."_ The voice echoed from all around her.

"Schnitter I presume?" Naru asked, hoping he would respond and give her a chance to narrow down his location.

" _Indeed I am. Geez this job just got harder didn't it?"_ His voice held amusement, but he also sounded a touch nervous.

Mugino reminded Naru she was still there by firing off a beam in her direction with a cry of rage. "Die! You manipulative ass."

Once more, Naru deflected the beam. "Mugino, snap out of it! It's me, Naru!"

" _It's no use, Number 2."_ Schnitter crowed. _"My drugs have made her deaf and my illusions make her blind to the truth. The Number 6 is nothing more than my pawn at this point."_

"Son of a bitch." Naru cursed as she tried and failed to narrow down his location. Sadly, it seemed that he was throwing his voice around. If given time, she was sure she'd pin down where he was but much to her frustration she was forced to deflect another of Mugino's beams before she could really get started.

"Stop it already, you walking energy cannon." Naru growled as her lightning crackled all around her as she used it to deflect the other girl's electron beam yet again.

Though if there was any silver lining to becoming Mugino's target, it was that she was building up an increasing understanding of the power that [Meltdowner] could put into her beams. They were a lot more powerful than Ruiko-chan's, that was for sure.

 _I'm going to need to put her down if I want to find Schnitter._ Naru frowned. Just as this realization came to mind, Mugino pulled something out of her pocket.

It was a silicon card.

"Let's see if your fancy robot can deflect this?! Eat my Silicon Burn!"

Flinging the card forward, it broke up into smaller pieces. As they begun to fall towards the ground, Mugino fired her beam at them. It struck the card fragments and reacted with the specially created material causing the charged electron beam to split into a host of smaller beams that lanced across the air in a deadly storm that lanced towards Naru.

 _It's more wild than Ruiko-chan's version, but that's not necessarily a bad thing._ Naru noted as she tried but largely failed to predict the chaotic paths the beams were cutting through the air.

Unable to evade the beams, the blonde sighed and raised her hands as she unleashed a storm of her own from her fingertips. Her own chaotic storm of lightning created a protective dome that deflected the majority of the incoming electron lasers.

 _This is starting to get old real fast._ Naru growled as she sidestepped the odd beam that slipped through her defense.

"These robots are getting old Schnitter!" [Meltdowner] shouted.

 _Enough is enough._ The blonde frowned and teleported behind Mugino in order to knock her out.

It surprised her when the tea haired girl seemed to have a good enough sixth sense to sense her and snap a kick at her the moment she rematerialized.

"Uf!" Naru exclaimed as the kick connected with her side and sent her tumbling.

Landing in a crouch, Naru's nose wrinkled as she deflected another beam. Only for her troubles to be rewarded with a jab to the face.

 _At least she knows how to throw a punch._ Naru though as her split lip healed and she ducked under another punch.

Despite being a long ranged specialist, Mugino showed a pretty good amount of skill at close combat as she unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks.

"Huh, for a robot you've got some decent programming. I didn't think a mousy little thing like Fuschida would waste cash on a kung-fu scrap heap." Mugino huffed as she continued her attack.

 _Didn't think you knew how to fight either. Still, I wonder who her teacher is? Maybe I can pouch her coach._ The blonde pondered as she dodged and twisted out of the way of the older girl's well placed strikes.

[Meltdowner] growled in anger as Naru continued to evade her. In her frustration, she overextended her next jab.

Naru smiled broadly as she capitalized and channeled chakra into her fist. Her arm struck like a viper and cracked Mugino right across the jaw. She knew she'd hit her just right when the Number 6 stumbled back a step before collapsing to the ground in an unconscious heap.

 _ **K.O.! Hehe, man I forget how squishy you meatbags are.**_ Kurama laughed uproariously. _**Hit one of you in the right place and with the right amount of force? BAM! Lights out!**_

"Yeah. Doesn't help that she's got a glass jaw." Naru said, looking down at Mugino. Thankfully she had used the proper amount of chakra in her strike. She really didn't want to have to explain to Aleister why she'd killed a Level 5.

A snicker broke out from the smog as it began to clear.

" _Nice joke, [Joker]. I can tell you're going to be a fun opponent. I actually look forward to fighting you again."_ Her opponent told her even as the clouds of drugged smoke started to dissipate.

"Sure thing," Naru said with an easy smile.

The young girl couldn't help but wonder if he noticed his powers didn't even work on her. Would he actually still try to fight her if he did?

As the smoke finished clearing, Naru's bright blue eyes surveyed her surroundings.

Mugino was unconscious at her feet.

Kinuhata was passed out outside the bar.

Takitsubo was a sweating mess some distance away, looking ready to take a nap. Though it looked little different from how she tended to.

"So much for our little ambush." The blonde scratched the back of her head.

The prospect that she would fail this mission was becoming more likely and she couldn't fight the pout as she stepped forward to help her allies get back on their feet.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless as always.**

 **So, a group has gone rogue and Naru has to deal with it. Just a typical day for our loli heroine. And having to work with ITEM? The sparks are going to fly! Oops, they already have, hehe.**

 **Nameless: Here's a shout out to the reviewer Daemon of Crawling Tentacles! It's all thanks to his/her review that we were inspired to come up with Cosplay**

 **It gave us the idea to do an entire team of homages for Cosplay. Hope you can all figure out who is who. That's half the fun of this after all!**

 **Nameless: We won't spoil anything. Consider this our little game with you readers. If you know who Cosplay are emulating, with the exception of Kusatsu who we spelled out, then drop a review to let us know. We'll see if you got it right. It shouldn't be too hard I'd think.**

 **So despite the bad blood with ITEM, Naru is still able to play nice if it's on a job. Seems Mugino can too, until she's hit by some drugs and illusions. Poor Naru and her immunity to most drugs. XP**

 **Nameless: Hey now, what are you implying there?**

 **Hm? Oh, nothing that will come into play now.**

 **Nameless: Man, your mind these days… Oh well, maybe your probably illegal idea might be useful later. Very big maybe**

 **You know what to do, smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Twenty Two: Wardrobe Malfunction**

 **Beta:**

* * *

A couple hours later found Naru and ITEM regrouping in a cafe in School District 6.

Mugino was busy pressing a ice pack to her bruised jaw as she shot Naru the stink eye. It was clear to all that being taken out by the younger girl had stung her pride and she was itching for some payback.

The twin tailed blonde ignored her as she sipped her super ultra sized strawberry milkshake.

Doing that was much better than dealing with Mugino after all. At least it was sweet.

Naru snorted a bit at her own joke but continued to keep her peace.

Seeing that there was no fight to be had, the tea haired girl turned her fury towards her team. They had all been quietly eating and trying to look as small as possible, but at their leader's furious gaze flinched.

"Well, would anyone like to tell me how they figured us out so easily?"

Frenda fidgeted in her seat and if possible shrank into herself even more. Naru just frowned at the sight.

"Frenda-chan did point out from the get go that calling for a meeting with Kusatsu out of the blue would tip Cosplay on to the fact that something was up." Naru informed Mugino, saving her fellow blonde the clearly unwelcome prospect of having to do so.

In response, Mugino shot Naru and Frenda glares. Frenda wilted at her leader's displeasure even as Naru rolled her eyes

"It's not her fault you didn't listen. So how about we stop pointing fingers and instead try to find them? If we don't we'll both end up failing this mission. And I like my success rate where it is."

"What do you suggest? We catfish them?"

"That would be super awkward." Kinuhata murmured before quickly shutting up when Mugino turned to glare at her.

"Kinuhata's right. But whatever we do, we need to do it quickly. If we waste anymore time, they're liable to disappear completely." Naru pointed out sternly. "If there's anything about the object you're tasked to recover that can be used to figure out where they might be, now's the time to share."

Mugino just snorted. "Did you forget that the client made it clear that you were not to pry? Besides, there's nothing about it that will help."

"It's either that or we can just fail. What sounds better?"

"Don't be stupid." Mugino dismissed Naru's concern with a wave of her hand. "Did you forget that we have Rikou? She's got Kusatsu and Schnitter's AIM field patterns now, with those she can track them all the way across the world if need be."

"And if they split up?"

"Won't happen." Kinuhata cut in. "Kusatsu always talked about how they're family and would never abandon or turn against each other. I think he meant it too."

"See." Mugino said with a victorious smirk while gesturing towards her youngest teammate.

Naru ignored her counterpart's mercurial mood and nodded in understanding to the tiny girl.

"Rikou, where are the rats hiding?"

"Somewhere in District 21." The tracksuit wearing girl said in seeming disinterest.

Hesitantly, Frenda-chan raised her hand.

"What?" Mugino snapped, the bruise twisting along with her face to make a frightening visage as she did so.

Looking away, Frenda-chan said, "I think I managed to get a lead on where Cosplay is hiding. According to my intel, there is someone holed up in an observatory in the mountains. If Cosplay are in District 21, then that's them."

Naru whistled at that, "Wow, Frenda-chan, nice work!"

The other blonde haired girl didn't respond, but still flustered at the light praise.

[Meltdowner] however just glared at the beret loving blonde, which caused poor Frenda-chan to gulp and hide behind her drink pale faced.

 _What the hell!? She's a terrible leader. Frenda-chan just gave us a big lead and she's treating her like shit?_ Naru frowned at Mugino. The older girl was more tyrant than leader.

The Number 2's mind wandered to Wataru and she made a mental note to get him something nice when the mission was over. Like a sports watch or a really nice bike part.

"So we have our location. Let's get going. And Namikaze throw that away, we aren't making pitstops!"

 _Alas poor milkshake, I knew ye well._

"How is she not fat?" Kinuhata muttered with a twinge of annoyance.

* * *

A few minutes later found the group of girls inside one of ITEM's transports as they rode towards the observatory Cosplay was holed up in.

Naru noted how very utilitarian and spartan the interior was.

Recalling how her friends had scolded her for the ostentatiousness of their own team van caused her to frown.

 _Man, they were right. Should have gone for simplicity._ Naru mused as she kept to herself. In contrast, ITEM was happily chatting with each other. Even the quiet Takitsubo chimed in occasionally as her teammates happily discussed whatever came to mind.

She wished one of her friends were here, she liked having them watching her back.

Thankfully these sad thoughts fled her mind when suddenly the van was sent airborne by an explosion. Naru gasped in surprise as the vehicle spun and came to a stop upside down. Likewise ITEM though caught unawares only grunted or made soft sounds of surprise. There was not one girly scream among them.

At least that's what they would all say if questioned.

 _Seriously though, we have the crash webbing to thank for us still being alive._ Naru concluded as she unbuckled herself from the life saving safety precaution and checked on the others.

"Is anyone hurt?" Naru asked as she looked the others over for injuries. Having received a series of negatives, she continued. "Then let's get out of here. I'll telepo-"

She didn't finish the suggestion before Mugino decided to fire one of her particle beams to cut her way out of the wrecked van and begun to walk out of the hole she'd created.

"-or just walk out. That's cool." Naru said while frowning disapprovingly at how the other Level 5 just left her teammates hanging. Frenda and Kinuhata were able to get themselves down, but Naru and Frenda had to help Tsukihito get free, before the Level 5 teleported all of them outside to join the others.

"Thank you." The tracksuit wearing girl said to the blondes.

" _Impressive entrance."_ Schnitter said from where he and Kusatsu stood a few dozen feet up the road and surrounded by banks of artificial fog that were creeping towards the girls from all sides.

"Welcome dogs of the City." Kusatsu said, a suit of cards fanned out in his right hand and ready to throw at them.

"Who are you calling dogs?" Mugino retorted even as she roughly grabbed the gas mask that Frenda handed her and slipped it on.

"What else would we call amoral pawns of the monsters that rule this supposed Capital of Science." The dyed blonde shot back.

"Welcome to Academy City. We lack morals." Naru chirped sarcastically.

That earned her a handful of glowing playing cards to the face.

Deftly dodging them as they exploded, Naru frowned. "Rude much?"

Already, white smoke flooded the whole area. Luckily, the girls were more prepared this time, the gas masks that Frenda had procured should protect them from Schnitter's annoying drugs. Everyone had one, except Naru who was seemingly immune to the drugged smog.

" _Gas masks?"_ Schnitter chuckled, even as ITEM began to stumble around unsteadily. _"Countering filtration systems are par for the course for me. The cocktail of chemicals I'm using in the smoke includes some specially designed to disable the protections in all standard systems. Your little 'defense' is utterly useless."_

Clicking her tongue, the twin tailed blonde cursed the fact that they didn't have time to come up with a better countermeasure.

"Damn it Frenda! Your masks don't work!" Mugino, now looking like some robot with a dozen different mounted cannons, shouted as she pulled hers off and began randomly shooting her lasers everywhere. "Get down. I'll burn the whole area to ash and kill that blasted illusionist."

Whatever Frenda was seeing, she seemed to keep a reasonably cool head as she dove to knock Takitsubo over. It was frankly a little hilarious as thanks to Schnitter's illusions, it looked like this cute little ball robot had bowled into a scarecrow like counterpart. She was just in time though, as one of Mugino's lasers swept over them, mere inches from killing them.

"Namikaze-san, if you can hear me, keep my teammates safe! I'll handle Rikou here, please save the others. " Frenda cried out as she pulled a auto syringe out of her backpack and jammed it into her teammate, to knock her out and presumably prevent her from wandering into trouble.

 _Huh! Seems like she managed to figure out that was Takitsubo. I wonder how?_

 _ **They were standing next to each other.**_ Kurama pointed out.

 _True. Though it looks like Frenda-chan is a lot better than the rumors say she is._

That said, she was still caught up in Schnitter's illusion and was now busy fighting a horde of imaginary opponents. From the way she refused to leave Takitsubo's side however, she seemed determined to protect her friend.

 _That girl has my respect._ Naru acknowledged with a nod, even as she was forced to deflect one of Mugino's lasers.

Turning away from her fellow blonde she groaned at seeing how her fellow Level 5 was once again being totally made a tool by Schnitter.

 _Illusion users are such a pain. Glad I don't have to worry about their little tricks._ Naru sighed. Her musings were interrupted however when Accelerator stepped out of the fog. Naru took an instinctive step back as the one Esper she knew for certain she couldn't beat walked towards her, but that fear faded quickly as her enhanced sense of smell quickly told her that the figure was in fact Kinuhata.

"I would say I'm not an enemy, but you probably can't hear me and are too hyped up on drugs to care even if you could." Naru said as an explosion came from behind her. Turning, she could see Frenda tossing around her doll-bombs as if they were candy.

Did the foreign girl's backpack have some kind of space distorting tech because there was no way the arsenal she was throwing around could have fit into it!

Some of the bombs were getting a little too close to the others though and Naru shot a few fireballs to intercept them in midair before Frenda inadvertently hurt her teammates.

This minor distraction was enough to give Kinuhata a chance to close though and the blonde found herself having to focus on evading the Level 4's attack.

 _Kurama!_

 _ **Got it.**_ The fox drawled as he took over from her and shaped her chakra appropriately to keep launching fireballs for Frenda's increasing large number of stray bombs.

 _The bastard Schnitter must be confusing her on purpose._ Naru noted with a frown, even as she squashed the minor burst of annoyance at how Kurama seemed to be able to work the chakra more efficiently than her. Shaping it into fireballs both faster and with more bang for the buck than she ever could. She reminded herself that he had centuries of practice molding his essence but still a girl had her pride.

She has the luxury of being distracted by these thoughts because side stepping Kinuhata's punches was proving rather easy. Despite the huge advantage Naru had in terms of the strength of their relative abilities, the shorter girl's powers still made her punches powerful enough that even in one of her Frames Naru would be leery of taking a hit. Yet the Level 4 was nowhere near as skilled in CQC as ITEM's leader.

 _You're kidding me! Kinuhata's whole schtick is close combat and Number 6 didn't even bother to give her as much training as she got herself!?_

Once more, Mugino's selfish and tyrannical nature showed how it could get one of her own teammates killed. Not that Kinuhata could be easily killed. She _was_ practically invulnerable to all conventional assault. That however didn't change the fact that Mugino was undermining her combat effectiveness.

The Dark May survivor continued her ruthless but predictable attacks and Naru danced around them easily.

Not wishing to deal with the poor illusioned girl any longer, the blonde formed chains of chakra in her hands. Whipping the fiery blue chains towards her opponent, she easily snared the surprised girl.

However, with her strength, Kinuhata easily broke them. That was not a problem. Naru had started off weak, not wanting to hurt her and intended to use the first set of chains to gauge her strength. The next set of chains lashed out, coiling around the other girl once more. She struggled and shouted at the bindings.

"I'm not into this super kinky stuff! It's Mugino's browser history all over again!"

Naru was interested in hearing more, but was deprived of the opportunity for some blackmail on [Meltdowner] when a set of playing cards suddenly came flying in through the fog to shatter her chains in a series of small explosions.

A grunt of annoyance escaped her at Kusatsu's interference. Calculating where the cards had come from, she flicked her hand in that direction and sent a large fireball hurtling towards - hopefully at least - the annoying Level 3.

A scream of pain tore through the air as Naru's fireball apparently found its mark,

" _Den-kun!"_ Schnitter called out, his voice full of concern.

It was music to Naru's ears if she were honest. She didn't revel in it, but with how annoying the pair had proven to be it was damn good to hear that she'd finally gotten at least one of them good.

With that pest out of the way, Naru turned to Kinuhata again.

Ducking under another sloppy swing from the manipulated girl, Naru conjured a fresh set of chains and bound her tight once more. Hopefully for good this time.

"Come on Fuschida! Make your robot let me go or I'll beat you into paste!" Kinuhata shouted at the top of her lungs, "I super promise it'll only be painful for a second!"

"Man, can she scream or what?" Naru wondered aloud as she rubbed her ear. Using her chakra to enhance her senses, the blonde focused on locating Schnitter. With Kusatsu wounded or worse, it was time to deal with the Mysterio wannabe.

"Come on, come on." Naru's enhanced hearing picked up a few hundred metres away. "We need to get out of here before the Number 2 pins down where we are. Come on, Denbe, work with me here."

Schnitter's desperate plea was met with a pained moan.

"Damn it! Don't die on me Den-kun. Not yet. Not here."

Naru approached them at a sedate pace, nonchalantly ducking a brace of Mugino's beams and casually shooting one of Frenda's bombs headed her way out of the sky.

 _Seems like someone is desperate to keep me from catching up to him and his friend._ Naru mused with a bloodthirsty grin on his face.

As she walked out of the fog bank Schnitter had created, the blonde saw the illusionist desperately trying to make distance from the battleground with his badly injured friend in his arms. Unfortunately between his armor and his sub par physical fitness as indicated in his file, he was getting nowhere fast.

In fact, just brisk walking allowed Naru to catch up to them within minutes. She didn't bother hiding her approach and thus the crunching of gravel under her shoes immediately drew Schnitter's attention.

He whirled around, drawing a gun from his belt in a smooth, practiced motion. The fishbowl head never had a chance to pull the trigger though.

With a quirked brow, the blonde breathed out an icy breath that blanketed the two idiots. In seconds, the two were frozen solid.

"Nooo…" Was Schnitter's final gasping word as his skin turned blue from the frigid cold.

Naru stared at the the two boys' icy tomb for what felt like forever as she waited for Schnitter's fog dispensers to run out. With Schnitter gone, his illusions might have faded but the drugged smoke would still take a while to clear.

 _Now that won't do._

With a wave of her hand, Naru poured her chakra into the air around her and seized control of it. Within moments, the wind picked up and began to blow the smog away.

As clean air once more filled their lungs, ITEM began to regain their bearings again.

"Huh?" Kinuhata blinked in her bindings and struggled to get free, "It's Mugino's fanfiction all over again~!"

"What was that, Saiai?" The menacing voice of [Meltdowner] said as she walked up towards the girl.

"Eh?" She gulped and tried to break free. Sadly, she could not. "O-Oi! Namikaze! Let me out, let me out! Have a soul girl~!"

Frenda edged away from her two squabbling teammates. Turning away from them, she put the disguised bomb she was holding back into her backpack and released an annoyed sigh, "There goes a good portion of my supplies. Oh man!"

The foreign blonde looked around and gasped at seeing Takitsubo on the ground.

"Oh! Rikou!" Frenda said as she dashed over to her and pulled out some smelling salts, "I'm so sorry. Really, really sorry!"

Takitsubo awoke with a groan.

Naru taking pity on Kinuhata released her bindings before Mugino could do anything.

"At least the most annoying ones are gone." The Number 2 said as she walked up to the other girls, thumbing over her shoulder at the frozen remains of the two dead Cosplay members.

"We're alive?" Takitsubo said as Frenda helped her into a sitting position.

"Clearly." Mugino snapped. Her pretty face contorted with annoyance as she looked at Naru. As if annoyed that Naru had to save her a second time.

Mild annoyance tickled the blonde, but she brushed it aside. They had a mission to complete after all.

"Thanks to Namikaze-san." Frenda informed the tracker. "If not for her taking out Schnitter, we would still be stuck fighting imaginary enemies."

"I see." The perpetually tired druggie said before turning to Naru and offering her a bow. "Thank you Namikaze-san."

"Yeah, thanks [Joker]. I super appreciate it." Kinuhata added.

"No problem." The Number 2 simply said as she looked around. Seeing the van was totaled and their driver unconscious, she pulled out her phone.

"Frenda-chan, see if you can pull him out of there without hurting him. I'll call an ambulance." She instructed as she dialed her phone.

"Sure thing!"

"Leave him." Mugino countered coldly. "We have a mission to accomplish. The subordinate organizations will take care of his corpse."

"He's still alive." Naru corrected her sternly, "I can hear him breathing."

Mugino shrugged. "And he'll be a corpse by the time the clean up crew gets here."

"And so would the rest of your team if I wasn't here. Maybe even you."

The Number 6 glared but said nothing, instead choosing to walk off in the direction of the observatory.

She was about twenty metres ahead when she called back over her shoulder, "Do whatever you want. Just hurry up and don't make me have to wait for you."

Naru finished her call and received an assurance that an ambulance was on the way. Hopefully it would arrive in time to save the poor man. That would just be the perfect way to spite Mugino.

* * *

It took the group of girls about fifteen minutes to finish their impromptu trek along the mountain road to the observatory at its peak where Cosplay was hiding. It was a pretty standard looking place, that amounted to a large complex probably filled with offices and labs. The only thing that made it stand out was the large dome at the centre of the facility that likely housed the telescope.

As they entered the car park that surrounded the building however, a voice rang out over the PA system.

" _Welcome dogs of Academy City. Or is it bitches? I can never tell the difference."_ A nasally, feminine voice that could only be Fuschida laughed over the PA system.

"Keep talking you weakling. We'll see who's the bitch in a minute." Mugino snarled like a mad dog.

Naru however grew curious as to why Cosplay kept trying to put them down as harshly as they did. First, Schnitter and Kusatsu, and now Fuschida. They all went out of their way to insult them for serving the City. What had caused them to do that? After all, not a week ago the team were also 'dogs' of Academy City.

What made them so different?

Unless they had been faced with a line that they just could not cross, there was no reason why they would have snapped like this. It wouldn't be the first time a Dark Sider broke from the strain of their job.

"Hey Fuschida," Naru asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. "Did you get a job you couldn't bring yourself to finish?"

Silence was her answer for a long moment, enough that Naru and ITEM managed to cross most of the carpark and for the blonde to think that the other girl wouldn't reply.

" _We were to deliver a package."_ Fuschida said suddenly. _"That wasn't anything new, we've done that before. But this time was different. This time we got curious and checked out exactly what it was that we were helping to deliver… it was a baby. A little baby boy. We're done a lot of things, but there was no way in hell that we were going to traffic a babe to be experimented on!"_

Naru frowned as she remembered her own past. Not even a day old and she was the subject of experimentation for the eager scientists of Academy City. It was not something she wished on anyone. She'd come out of that reasonably alright, but she wasn't naive enough to think that most people would have been so lucky.

Her heart twisting at the revelation, she glanced at ITEM to see if they knew.

Mugino, seeing her look, simply grunted, "Focus on _your_ mission. We'll focus on _ours_."

A cackle came over the PA, _"Yes, such good_ bitches _you all are. Bark when told to and sit when ordered. Good bitches only need to follow orders, don't they?"_

 _ **Okay, I feel like she has some kind of complex with calling all of you bitches.**_

 _You think?_ Naru rolled her eyes as Fuschida seemed to revel in speaking down to them.

"You do remember your gaggle of nerds were dogs too right?" Mugino shot back. "Hm, considering how weak you lot are, maybe lower than dogs."

There was no reply, perhaps what Mugino had said managed to strike a chord with the Level 4.

The little verbal sparring at an end, the group entered the building proper. Stepping through the front entrance, they found themselves in a small reception area that was covered in a thick layer of dust. The only sign of recent habitation being a set of footprints on the dusty floor that led deeper into the building.

"Frenda, Saiai," Mugino said pointing to her two teammates. "Follow the trail and scout ahead. Rikou stick with me. Just double checking, but they're inside?"

Takitsubo nodded. "Besides us there are only two other Espers here and they're both in the centre of the building."

"No doubt they set traps." Naru stated the obvious. Considering their penchant for falling for them in this mission, she felt they needed the reminder.

"Why do you think Frenda's taking point? She's our trap expert." Mugino said with a smirk and turned to the Caucasian to snap out an order. "Disarm all their traps. Got it?"

Frenda cutely saluted and skipped on ahead, Kinuhata following after her at a more sedate pace.

The duo had just stepped through the door to exit the reception area and get further into the building when the PA crackled back to life and Fuschida's voice echoed out all around the girls.

" _I honestly feel sorry for you fools. We did as we were told, like good little killers. Still, even then we kept our souls despite how much blood we were stained in."_

"Ignore her." Mugino ordered as she followed after their vanguard. Naru exchanged a look with Takitsubo who just shrugged and emulated her team leader. Sighing in resignation, the Number 2 did so as well.

Clearly not expecting a reply from them, Fuschida kept going. _"When we learned what we were to deliver, we rebelled. We rescued the child from whatever cruel fate the City had for him. He deserves better, just like we deserved better but never received it."_

"That's-" Naru began, moved by what the rogue Dark Sider was saying. She was saying exactly what Naru so often felt.

"Please, how foolish are you people?" Mugino scoffed, looking bored. "The baby you so called 'rescued' wasn't even a test subject. He's the grandson of one of the City's Directors. He was being covertly moved into the City to receive his Esper treatment. Congrats, you didn't save anyone but rather kidnapped a poor child from his _loving_ family. Good job."

Naru shot Takitsubo a searching look and received a nod in confirmation.

" _Y-You're lying."_ Fuschida's voice hitched even as she hissed in denial.

"Nope. By the way, how could you do something so terrible? How could you be such _monsters_?" Mugino cooed darkly, seeming to love the fact that she was turning everything Fuschida had believed around on her. "Did you want to be an ally of justice so much that you jumped the gun without even checking the facts? Tell me, was it worth it?"

" _Shut up! Shut the fuck up!"_ Fuschida shouted furiously.

" _Atsuko calm down. She's just trying to mess with us."_ A new male voice, Takizawa presumably, cut in. Unlike his team leader, he seemed to have retained his calm.

 _Damn. I sympathise with them. All they wanted was to do some good but it ended up being for naught._ Naru mused with a frown. _I wish more Dark Siders actually wanted to be good people like them. It would be a nice thing to see happen._

" _Thank you, Rinji."_ Fuschida said with a deep breath, seemingly calming down. " _You're right. I shouldn't play her game."_

"Game? I'm playing no game." Mugino refuted with a merciless smirk. "I'm just going to kill you."

" _Oh, I have no doubt of that. We know we can't take out two Level 5s._ _But we'll make our deaths worth it."_ Fuschida noted with fatalistic determination. _"We'll take as many of you dogs down with us as we can."_

Suddenly, a set of hidden containment doors slammed shut in front of them and barred their way forward, separating them from Frenda-chan and Kinuhata.

Clicking her tongue, Naru said, "Seems they specialize in separation tactics. Whoo."

Her fellow Level 5 however released an animalistic growl. "This is seriously starting to grind down my patience."

 _You have patience?_ Naru mockingly thought.

A low hiss reached Naru's ears as she looked to see gas filling the room.

Immediately, Takitsubo collapsed to her hands and knees with her usually tired eyes practically closed. Mugino on the other hand swayed on her feet, but seemed to refuse to fall down as she leaned on a nearby desk.

Naru however created a gas mask of chakra and growled, "Can you guys stop it with the gas? Honestly, it's getting old."

" _All's fair in love and war. Though let me just say that it's ridiculous that you can just make a gasmask out of that energy of yours. Just how broken are you?"_

"You haven't met Miss "I've catalogued every Esper ability" yet." Naru snarked, as she held out her hand and used her chakra to shape the air around the two ITEM girls into bubbles of uncontaminated air.

 _ **It'll keep them from inhaling anymore poison, but they might have already inhaled a lethal dose.**_

 _I'm going to give Mugino credit that she hasn't just passed out like her teammate._ Naru noted as she observed how the Number 6 was struggling to stay conscious even as she slipped down the side of the desk she was using as a support and into a sitting position on the floor.

 _ **Gotta agree with you there.**_

 _Hopefully the druggie can live through it too._ Naru thought worriedly as she saw Takitsubo collapse into an unconscious heap in the middle of the room. _I guess I'll just end this quickly so they can get medical treatment._

"And you just had to throw away the masks that Frenda-chan got for you guys didn't you?" Naru chided as she eyed the unresponsive [Meltdowner] and [AIM Stalker].

" _That would have really helped you,"_ Fuschida confessed. _"Andrew didn't have enough material to fix this batch of gas with his anti-filtration formula. What a silly mistake to make."_

"Laugh it up. Mugino might think just because we have powers we're invincible, but I'm not her." Naru shot back. "Your cheap tricks working around our powers won't help you against me."

Suddenly the sealed containment door leading further into the facility that had cut their group in half was blown open by an explosion.

Naru's body tensed, ready for a fight until the dust cleared. She relaxed as she saw Frenda-chan step through the opening that had been created while dragging an unconscious Kinuhata behind her. Both of them, the Number 2 noted, were sporting gas masks.

"You had spares?" Naru asked as she eyed the masks in surprise.

"Yup." The other blonde nodded, as she quickly surveyed the scene in front of her. "It's a basic rule of field ops, always bring spares. Just wish the others didn't always leave it to me to lug them around."

"Good thing you do." Naru smiled as Frenda-chan dropped Kinuhata and pulled out another pair of masks that she proceeded to strap onto her two remaining teammates, allowing the Level 5 to release the air bubbles.

"Tell that to Mugino," Frenda said with a sigh as she finished. "She keeps saying I'm being a paranoid idiot for carrying so much extra stuff."

"Oh, trust me. I will." Naru swore and Frenda-chan flashed her a peace sign and a sheepish smile.

Digging into her backpack once more, the Caucasian pulled out a pair of auto injectors. Without hesitation, she jabbed one into Takitsubo's arm.

"What's that?"

"A wide spectrum antidote." Frenda-chan explained as she much more nervously injected the drug into Mugino's system. "It can't fully counter the gas, even diluted as it is, but it will at least buy time for help to arrive."

The pigtailed blonde nodded and grabbed Kinuhata and dragged her over to join Mugino along the side of the room. Frenda-chan got the hint and went over to do the same for Takitsubo.

"You can handle things here?"

"I'll keep an eye on them." The beret loving girl said with a determined nod. "You go kick Cosplay's ass. Hard."

Nodding in agreement, the Level 5 went through the opening that the other blonde made. Beyond were more mundane looking office space like the hall she'd been walking through since the reception but that was alright. If the blueprints of the building she had reviewed before she'd set out for this confrontation were correct, then she just had to ignore the branching hallways. Cosplay was almost certainly holding up in the observatory dome and to get there she just had to keep going straight.

She reached the entrance to the dome in no time, but just as she neared the doors a whirring noise reached her ears as a dozen turrets popped out of the walls.

Spinning around, she saw that they had surrounded and caught her in the middle of a perfect killbox.

Her muscles coiled, Naru reacted as soon as they opened fire on her. Not just with conventional bullets but also lasers and railguns.

On reflex, the blonde summoned an aura of chakra to act as a shield. As the assault bounced off her defences, the Level 5 held out her hands.

Claws of raw chakra grew from her fingertips, each a foot long.

"I'm honestly insulted by this. At least give me something of a challenge." Naru frowned and charged forward.

Like an intricate dance, her pigtails fluttering as she moved, Naru ducked, spun and weaved her way through the barrage. All the while, her claws sliced, diced and minced the turrets into scrap with barely any effort. She moved with such speed that to an outside observer, she seemed like little more than a golden blur that left explosions in her wake.

Landing soundlessly back where she'd started, Naru's claws faded away as she reabsorbed the chakra that she'd used to construct them back into her body all while flattening her skirt. She kept the protective aura up though, wary of any more traps her enemies might have in store for her.

"Though besides underestimating me, this little trap of yours was actually pretty good. I mean, you guys even managed to get your hands on some of the City's prototype weapons."

" _That was Andrew and Denbe's handiwork."_ Fuschida announced over the PA. _"Den-kun stole the schematics for the lasers and railguns and Andy sat the turrets up."_

Sighing, Naru said, "It's sad that they're gone now. They could have done such good things. At least they were willing to try."

" _And since you murdered them, they'll never be able to."_

Naru was unfazed by the hatred in Fuchida's tone, but she still agreed with the older girl.

"You know, I'm actually a little sad for having had to do that. You lot just got unlucky. You're good people. You lot don't deserve wasting your lives over a stupid mistake like this."

A scoff was heard from the PA system, _"Please. Are you that stupid to believe the maniac [Meltdowner] of all Espers?"_

"Did you bother to check?" Naru retorted.

There was no reply as the blonde walked towards the set of containment doors that led into the central dome.

 _That's odd. Why would a simple telescope need lead lined containment doors?_ Naru noted idly as she saw the warnings stickers pasted on the thick metal doors.

 _ **The blueprints did say this was a radio telescope.**_

 _Maybe. But this seems a little excessive._ Naru countered. She was getting a feeling like she'd overlooked something important.

 _ **Well, you won't know until you go inside.**_

Nodding in agreement, the middle school agent walked towards the terminal next to the doors. She'd barely even touched the machine when the doors folded back into the recesses along the walls where they were stored when deactivated.

Looking into the room that would be the final battleground for this mission, Naru noted that it consisted of a large room with, rather obviously, a domed roof. Suspended by a set of metal supports just below the dome was a large telescope, the whole setup was connected to a set of rails that ran along the circumference of the dome presumably to allow the device to be repositioned for optimal use. Oddly though there was a grate covering a hole in the center from which a series of thick cables ran up to connect with the telescope.

A gasp filled her mind as Kurama said, _**Shit. The whole place is drowning in radiation. Hold on, I'm countering the effects as it's killing you.**_

 _Great. This is why I hate dealing with radiation._ Naru pouted as she looked across the room to see Fuschida and Takizawa. The mousy girl was standing on the grate in the very centre of the room and surrounded by three orbiting glowing orbs. Her last remaining teammate was standing next to her, his twin Berettas in hand which he still held at his side for the moment.

 _Why isn't he att-_

Naru never got the chance to finish even mentally formulating the question before the answer presented itself as one of the orbs around Fuschida suddenly transformed into a massive beam attack that flooded the whole area where she stood.

Naru's foresight to keep her protective aura on saved her life as it barely kept her from being cooked alive from the powerful attack. Even with the armor it provided, her skin started to burn from the intensity of the beam and the force behind it pushed her back several feet. Straining to keep her footing, Naru grit her teeth and conjured lightning from her fingertips in a bid to redirect the blast.

With a shout she attempted to push the blast away, only for nothing to happen.

"What the hell?" Naru said in bewilderment as the beam finally finished washing over her.

"Did you think I was stupid?" Fushida asked angrily, even as her two remaining orbs was joined by a rapidly forming third created from streamers of particles that were floating up from below the grate under her feet. "I've seen you redirect [Meltdowner]'s electron cannon, I'd be a fool to use an electron based weapon against you. That was a neutron beam. The paltry electromagnetic fields of your lightning are nowhere strong enough to affect it."

"Do you need to explain everything to feel superior? Cliche much." Naru asked, slightly incredulous as the burns her body suffered started to slowly heal.

"Yes. She has a massive inferiority complex from being bullied as a kid." Takizawa said as he fired a shot at Naru that she dodged by teleporting a dozen steps closer to her opponents. She'd have gone in for an attack already but she was feeling a little chatty. Who knew? Maybe she could even work a miracle and convince these two to surrender.

"Rinji!" Fuschida snapped at him.

 _ **You might want to speed this up.**_ Kurama warned. _**This radiation isn't something even you can stand for long.**_

"Alright, if you say so." Naru shrugged in reply to both Takizawa and her tenant, before teleporting right behind the laser happy teenager. Just as she was about to deliver a blow to the back of her head, Takizawa showed off just how insanely fast his ability made his reaction times and spun around to fire a shot at her

Thankfully, Naru's reflexes were top notch too as she managed to twist in the air and dive out of the way the moment she saw him turn. The muzzle flashed and despite her defenses, a hiss passed the blonde's lips as the bullet grazed along her back.

 _ **Lucky you listened to your instincts there.**_ Kurama mumbled distractedly. _**If you'd let your confidence take over, we'd be dead.**_

"Argh!" She growled in both pain at the wound and annoyance at her tenant as she dropped to the ground and teleported away in time to avoid a neutron beam from Fuschida.

Reappearing behind Takizawa with anger clear in her voice she began ranting. "Seriously! What is that piece of shit charging for these things? Pennies?!"

Again demonstrating just how quickly he could react, he spun around and fired a burst from both his pistols at her. Throwing her hands up to protect herself, she was unable to stop him as he pushed away and created as much distance between them as he could. Thankfully, these bullets bounced off of her armor harmlessly.

 _Alright, so he's got a limit on them it seems. No way they could have gotten a lot of those little devils on such short notice._ Naru mentally noted as she counted the amount he had used on her so far. One was his opening shot surely and the other was the follow up that had grazed her back.

He probably managed to get at least a full clip, but probably no more than that.

 _Still, I can't rely on assumptions._ Naru noted as she used the counter she'd developed for these troublesome anti-chakra weapons. With a bit of chakra channeled into the concrete beneath her feet, a thin layer of the material liquefied and flowed up her body to encase it in earthen armor.

She'd just finished fashioning her improved armor when another neutron beam washed over her, making her grit her teeth. Feeling her armor crack and weaken from the energy it was being subjected to, she pumped more chakra into it in a bid to strengthen it. She could tell it was a losing battle however, and just seconds before it failed she teleported to safety.

As she rematerialized, she quickly began repairing the armor expecting her enemies to press the attack. None came however, and Naru looked around to see that Fuschida was busying reloading. She had already reformed one of her orbs and was halfway done with a second.

"What the heck?" Naru asks in confusion as she eyed the glowing streams that were flowing up out of the grate.

She was starting to get tempted to pull out a Frame, but held back for now. The situation was still manageable. For now.

Takizawa's eyes were scanning the room for the petite blonde. He let out a hiss of annoyance as he found her and noted her improved armor. Oddly enough this prompted him to start fiddling with the bullets in his guns.

The idea of him topping off his ammo wasn't a keen idea to Naru, so she decided to stop him.

With a fireball the size of a car to the face.

Unfortunately, Naru forgot about Fuschida. As her fireball sailed towards the gunslinger, it suddenly began breaking apart, with streamers of flame twisting their way through the air and forming into a fiery orb next to the Level 4.

"Shit. Forgot about that." Naru cursed as Cosplay's leader decided to turn the blonde's own attack against her and released the energy she'd just absorbed back at her in the form of a heat ray.

The intensity of the beam of raw thermal energy was strong enough that it quite literally baked Naru's earthen armor like clay in a kiln. It would have been enough to cook the Level 5 alive too and the only thing that saved her from that fate was the layer of chakra underneath, but even then the heat was almost unbearable.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the gun toting Esper managed to finish his ammo switch and opened fire.

Ever cautious of her personal silver bullets and a little leery of the effectiveness of her earthen armor in its current state, Naru decided to dodge the gunfire. While her reflexes helped her dodge a potentially fatal shot, a bullet still managed to catch her shoulder and shatter the earthen armor. This was followed by another bullet ripping through the broken defense and tearing a hole _through_ her shoulder.

 _Holy shit!_ Naru hissed in her mind as she continued to dodge whatever bullets the bastard had left until he started to reload once more. _He actually used some freaking AP round on the earth armor and then followed up with an anti-chakra round. The two came so close together it almost seemed like it was the same bullet._

Naru concluded bullet-time was utter bullshit even as Kurama pushed out some of the fragments of the Dark Matter bullet.

"You are pretty much a zombie. You never die." Takizawa commented at the sight even as he dove out of the way of Naru's counterattack as she created a set of elongated chakra claws that she used to swipe at him.

"I am far too cute to be a zombie!" Naru shouted indignantly.

"Zombie? She's more like a cockroach. Luckily, we're experienced in doing pest control." Fuschida said contemptuously as she launched two neutron beams in a sweeping arc that cut across the half of the room that Naru was standing in.

 _Now that's just being mean!_ Naru pouted as she teleported away. Her armor had failed her once already under her opponents' tag team assault, she wasn't about to risk that happening a second time.

 _Maybe I should pull out a Frame after all._ The blonde mused as she rematerialized in a safe spot next to Takizawa.

He immediately spun around and fired for her head. Too bad for him though, she'd pegged him for trying to do some kinda trick on her, so the moment Naru appeared she'd quickly teleported once again. As a result, his bullets hit nothing but the room's concrete walls.

She appeared behind him and he turned to face her, but before he could raise his guns the blonde's foot lashed out with an enhanced kick that crashed into his chest. The older boy's eyes widened as the air was forced out of his lungs and he was sent flying into the far wall. He hit it with a resounding crash that left his body to limply fall to the ground, unconscious.

"Rinji!" Fuschida cried out in a mix of anger and anguish. "Die! Die you bitch! Die!"

Her furious screams were followed by a pair of neutron beams aimed at both Naru's heart and head. Unlike the others before which had been AOE attacks that swept through a large area at a time, these were narrow beams that travelled even faster than their predecessors.

 _It looks like somehow is going for the kill._ The blonde noted even as she teleported away to safety.

 _ **Or her anger is making her sloppy.**_ Kurama countered. _**Considering you can teleport, sticking to AOE has a better chance at actually connecting.**_

"Geez, that was annoying." Naru huffed as Kurama finally finished healing her wounded shoulder. Looking at how fast the girl was recharging her attacks, the blonde's curiosity demanded satisfaction. "How are you getting your ammo so quickly? Your file in the [Bank] didn't say you could pull this off. Even Mugino has a longer charge time and she's insanely good."

The girl's face contorted into a smug visage, clearly unable to resist the chance to show off her superiority to a Level 5, Fuschida said, "Why do you think we holed up in this observatory?" She gestured to the hole in the ground, "There's an experimental nuclear powered setup for an anti-orbital particle cannon below."

Naru's eyes widened at that. She'd not realized the City actually had one of those.

"You're already familiar with its successor. You faced it during the Poltergeist Incident after all." The mousy girl added with a twinge of haughtiness.

Briefly eying the 'telescope' over their heads, Naru couldn't help but be a little impressed by it. Who knew that something so innocuous looking was actually a giant death ray and the grandfather to the particle cannon that Therestina had tried to use to kill her and her friends to boot.

 _Fucking Kihara._ Naru hissed at the reminder of the woman. Though at least this explained where the psycho got something as dangerous as that beam cannon. This 'observatory' must have set up by one of her fellow members of that twisted family and she got its plans from whoever it was.

"This little treasure was actually scheduled for dismantling by the City because it wasn't powerful enough to hit high Earth orbit like it was intended to. That said, it's more than enough for me." Fuschida said with a smirk as she drew more radiation from the system to recharge her energy balls. "The radiation it pumps out is so intense that being here means that I can 'reload' in a fraction of the time I would need otherwise."

 _ **Well that explains all that radiation.**_

"Thanks for the info dump!" Naru smirked. "First rule of an Esper. Never explain your powers."

 _Unless you're Saten and on a power trip with the gigatons to back it up._ Naru mentally added.

Fuschida just smirked right back even as she fired off another two neutron beams. "What makes you think I care? I don't expect to walk out of this alive."

"Yeah, you probably won't. Can I be honest with you for a second?" Naru asks as she rematerialized from her latest teleport and put up her hands to signal for a pause.

"...Sure?" The other girl uncertainty.

"I'm sorry it turned out this way. You and your friends were one of the good ones, never forget that...and this is coming from a girl bathed in blood. I… I wish we could have met earlier...maybe we could have been friends." Naru smiled sadly at Fuschida, showing her sincerity.

"We could never have been friends, [Laughing Joker]!" Fuschida sneered as she fired another pair of her neutron beams.

Naru sighed in resignation as she teleported once again.

Appearing in front of the older girl, Naru began donning her Panzer Frame.

 _I've had enough of this._

 _ **Finally! This has dragged on long enough!**_

 _Shut up, I was trying to talk them down._ Naru defended herself as the Frame fully settled over her shoulders.

 _ **Hmph, you're a fool to try and talk down a zealot.**_

Realization came to Fuschida's face. No doubt the thought running through her mind was: Oh shit! I'm boned! After all, most Dark Siders that went up against a Frame of the Number 2 rarely lived to tell the tale.

It was either from sheer hopelessness or madness that plagued the Level 4 but faced with the sight, her response was to break out into a hysterical laugh. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she aimed her beams at the hulking monstrosity.

Even without her Frame, Naru had weathered the other girl's beams with only minor difficulty. Now inside her trump card she bulldozed through the attack like it wasn't even there.

Naru hit Fuschida like a bullet train. The speed and mass behind the impact caused the mousy Dark Sider to be picked up and carried as the Level 5 finished her dash across the room before being smashed into the wall on the far side. In the end, all that was left of the poor girl was a barely recognizable bloody mess that was splattered between Naru's armored body and the wall.

Naru felt a wave of sadness overcome her as she looked down at the mangled body. It looked like a flesh sack filled with protruding bones and leaking mashed organs.

Gingerly, the blonde attempted to gently lay the remains down on the ground. Sadly, it was in such bad shape that most of it slipped through her large fingers.

Sighing, the Level 5 headed towards Takizawa as she re-absorbed her Frame. She kicked his guns away and woke him up with a burst of electricity.

He jolted into wakefulness and instinctively clutched his hands as if they were around his guns even as he did a quick sweep of his surroundings.

His breath hitched as he spotted what was left of his team leader.

"Did she suffer?" He asked her, sobs escaping his throat.

"I tried to make it as quick and painless as possible." She told him honestly.

"T-Thank you. Atsuko, she… she didn't deserve to die, but at least it was quick." He choked, weakly rubbing his eyes as his body shivered.

"I'm sorry things had to come to this." Naru confessed. "Can you tell me where's the baby? I need to make sure he's safe."

"All I ever wanted was to be with Atsuko. Same with Andrew and Denbe. All any of us ever wanted was to be together ever since we were children and in the Child Error facility."

Naru's heart twisted as she listened to his tale, "Don't worry. You'll be with her soon. And your friends as well. You can be happy together."

"You taking up the cloth or something?" Takizawa commented with a snort. "There is no proof of an afterlife."

"No, but we can all hope there's more than this blood stained life, right?"

"Heh, even a bloody monster like you can try and be a good person. Who knew?"

Naru winced at another reminder of her bloody past.

"Where's the baby?" Naru asked again, not wanting to speak further of her own evils.

The boy grit his teeth, "Gone. Gone from this shitstain City."

"Can you tell me? Please don't tear him from his family. At least he'll have that when we didn't."

Takizawa simply spat at her feet and said, "Kill me. I'm dying anyway. The anti-rad nanites may have staved off the most immediate effects but I know I've already taken a lethal dose."

Naru opened her mouth to keep trying to convince him, but Kurama stopped her. _**It won't work. He's done listening.**_

The middle schooler wanted to refute that, but she knew the demon was right. With a sigh, she conjured a chakra claw.

"I promise that you won't feel a thing." She said before piercing the construct right through his head and brain. His dead body slumped to the ground and she moved it next to Fucshida's.

"For a City of Science why do we only make monsters? You guys were good people." She said, her voice filled with sadness as she looked at the two dead teenagers. "You deserved better."

* * *

With Cosplay disposed of, it was up to ITEM to finish their part of the mission.

Naru could have left then and there, but like hell was she going to let some kid be taken away from his family.

As they regrouped, Frenda-chan had used her contacts to discover that Cosplay had handed over the baby to an agent of the Catholic Church. Apparently, they had sacrificed themselves to serve as the distraction while the nun smuggled the child out of the City via boat.

Naru had been a little surprised at how Frenda-chan managed to get so much information on short notice. That was until her fellow blonde had confessed her secret.

Seriously, how Mugino couldn't tell that Ruiko-chan was Frenda-chan's source was beyond her.

It's not like there were any other information brokers that good. And definitely not any that were accessible to ITEM. It wasn't as if they could just use UNDER_LINE. Naru honestly still felt that the Superintendent's personal spy network was just plain cheating.

"Please don't tell, Mugino." Frenda-chan begged with her head bowed and her hands clapped together. The two were the only ones able to recover the baby since the others were still down from the gas.

They were in a transport vehicle heading to intercept the nun before she could make her gateaway.

"Why not?" Naru asked, a glimmer of amusement in her blue eyes. Frenda-chan squirmed in her seat and it was funny to see. The Caucasian was just so adorably expressive.

"She won't like it." Frenda-chan explained with a whimper. "She has an irrational need to prove her superiority to everyone, especially the other Level 5s. If she finds out I used Saten-sama's intel, she'll see it as me betraying her."

"And you still went ahead and called up Ruiko-chan?"

"Why not? I mean her intel is good and it's not like _I_ have any qualms with her." She paused for a moment, before correcting herself. "Well, except for being absolutely terrified of her going all [Army Slayer] on me."

"At least you're smarter than most of your team." Naru said, patting her fellow blonde's shoulder.

"Hehe." Frenda-chan offered a small grin as she rubbed the back of her neck.

The ride was quiet for a few minutes as Naru struggled to say something.

"Um, Frenda-chan, I uh…"

The beret wearing girl cocked her head at her.

"I just, I just wanted to apologize." Naru managed to get out, "I've been a real bitch to you in the past. I never realized how good you actually were. All those times, I just wanted to mess with Mugino and you seemed to be the easiest thing to pick on. I'm sorry."

She bowed her head sincerely towards her fellow blonde, who looked taken aback by the sudden apology.

"-Wow. I didn't think you would say sorry. No, I don't think Level 5s even could." Frenda-chan gaped at her.

"I've seen a lot lately that makes me want to be more than just a weapon." Naru confessed.

The Caucasian eyed Naru warily but nodded in acceptance. "Then I guess I accept your apology. Oh, and I promise not to tell Mugino that you're really just a softy."

Naru snorted at that. "Thanks. I'd rather die than let Mugino, of all people, lord that over me."

The member of ITEM laughed and said, "Level 5s sure are prideful, huh?"

"You have no idea." Naru agreed with a stern nod.

The ride lasted for another ten minutes that was filled with companionable silence until their driver spoke up.

"Ladies, we're in position. The target is dead ahead."

"Then let's cut the baby stealing bitch off at the pass!" Naru ordered with a murderous smirk.

This woman had exploited Cosplay to get leverage over the City and led them to their deaths. That was something Naru wasn't about to let go unanswered.

The driver nodded and put pedal to the metal, causing the van to shoot out of the alley they were waiting in before he pressed hard on the breaks. This put them right in the middle of the narrow road and blocked the way of an oncoming car.

Immediately, the car's driver jumped out of his vehicle and began loudly demanding answers. The annoyance was quickly silenced however as Frenda and Naru jumped out of their van and the Caucasian shot him in the head.

In response a woman in a nun's habit stepped out of the care with a crucifix in hand that was slowly starting to glow. Naru would have none of it however as with a simple twitch of her fingers had a wind blade slice off the magician's entire arm.

"Ahh! Ahh!" She wailed in pain, clutching her stump and rolled on the ground.

"Sorry, but you're in Academy City illegally." Naru chirped, "And that's punishable by death."

The nun was too busy crying in pain so the Level 5 shut her up with a good kick to the head.

"Luckily for you, we have questions. Consider yourself lucky that you're still useful. For now." Naru told the woman with a glare as she used some fire to cauterize the stump.

Done with the woman who was now being dragged into the van by their driver, Naru headed over to the car.

She found Frenda-chan's arms full with a small babe, bawling its eyes out no doubt from the commotion. With amazing skill however, the other blonde was slowly calming it down.

An awed look settled on Naru's face as she looked at the tiny life.

 _I wonder if I could ever bring a life like that into the world, instead of just taking it._ The Level 5 thought in amazement as she stroked the babe's cheek.

 _ **You're female.**_ Kurama said, as if that explained everything.

 _Yeah, but who'd ever want to be with a monster like me?_

 _ **You'll never know.**_ The fox said as he withdrew into the depths of his mind, radiating sadness and regret.

"He's very cute." Naru told Frenda-chan, ignoring her tenant's odd mood.

The ITEM member flashed her a grin and nodded in agreement, "He totally is. It's like dealing with my baby sister all over again. She's just as needy for her big sis's attention!"

* * *

That night as Naru laid in her bed trying to drift off to sleep, she couldn't help reflecting on the mission.

 _I guess I'm no closer to knowing what I want to do after I graduate from school. But this mission did show me what_ kind of person _I want to be._

Thinking back on her interactions with Number 6, there was one thing she was certain about.

 _I don't want to be_ _a psychopath like Mugino nor an utterly amoral tool of the City like Cosplay claimed we were._

Giving up on sleep for the moment, Naru turned to stare at her dorm room's ceiling. In the darkness of the late night and with the quiet breathing of a sleeping Awatsuki-chan, the Level 5 couldn't help but feel comfortable.

 _I guess I like the dark after all… Maybe that's why I'm a Dark Sider. And if I'm one of them, then… then I have no choice but to accept jobs that sometimes I'd rather not._

Turning to look at her sleeping roommate, who was blissfully unaware of her musings or the City's monstrous underbelly, Naru continued her ponderings. _I sure hope that changes someday. I don't want to have to kill good people like Awatsuki-chan or Cosplay just because of orders ever again._

"What can I do though?" She breathed into the near silence of her room. "Is there a way to help the younger Dark Siders so they don't end up so twisted? If there's something like that… I'd like to do that. I think."

She was silent for a moment as she considered that. It sounded ridiculous considering how the Dark Side worked, but if there was a way… Naru would jump at the chance.

Deciding that since she was not falling asleep any time soon, the blonde slid out of her bed and headed over to her desk. Maybe some research would help clear her head. She was just reaching for her laptop when she spotted her phone in its charging cradle.

"Ah, Ruiko-chan is probably worried." Naru quietly whispered as the sight reminded her of her easily worried friend. Shaking her head at her classmate's overprotectiveness, she pulled out her phone to text her friend.

[Mission Complete! I'm fine too! XD] - Naru

Not even two seconds later, she received a reply.

[I know, I was watching for the most part.] - Ruiko

[And I know you know, but still! It's nice to have someone to say it to. o] - Naru

[Hehe~! How'd you know? Well, at least you're fine. Our Sempai had a run-in with magicians while you were busy.] - Ruiko

Panic streaked across Naru's heart at that nugget of information as she quickly typed back.

[Eh?! For real?! Is she okay? What faction?] - Naru

[As for knowing, it's just how you are.] - Naru

[I see, I see. No worries though, Kamijou Touma was with her. It was just some Chinese monks no doubt trying to retrieve their Kings.] - Ruiko

[X-( And you didn't help why?] - Naru

[Sempai was able to handle it. Besides, if we interfered I think she would be more upset than grateful. She even resolved the situation the one moment where I was about to teleport in! She employed quite the humorous tactic to win.] - Ruiko

"Humorous? Since when is Sempai funny?" Naru scoffed softly.

[By humorous, I mean from our POV and at her expense.] - Ruiko

 _Ah, that makes much more sense._

[Heard what I said? Spying on me now?] - Naru

[You couldn't sleep. Was worried.] - Ruiko

[Was just thinking. Don't worry. Now tell me what Sempai did.] - Naru

[I'll always worry. You're my friend. Not telling, go find out yourself.] - Ruiko

[Oh, come on! I'll pay you.] - Naru

[No deal. Go wheedle it out of Sempai yourself.] - Ruiko

[You just want to watch her squirm dontcha?] - Naru

[Of course.] - Ruiko

Not for the first time Naru smiled at how far along her friend had come in her recovery from being [The Robot]. Being able to take pleasure in her teasing of their Sempai was a far cry from the machine she used to be.

That was not to say that meant she was immune to her teasing either.

[If you're watching me right now, I might fear for my innocence. How much have you seen?! 0/0] - Naru

 _Ha! Let's see her recover from that._ Naru thought smugly.

[Do you really _want_ to know?] - Ruiko

The blonde flustered a touch, but she still had a tiny smile on her face.

[Why so concerned to tell me? See something you _like_ ~?] - Naru

[Did you forget? I like my significant others to be male, pale and have a tendency towards being psychopathic mass murderers.] - Ruiko

 _Touche, Ruiko-chan, touche._ Naru thought and decided to concede even though she fit one of those options sadly.

The realization had her feeling somber and she recalled a favour that she'd been meaning to ask her friend.

[Hey, can you arrange a funeral for Cosplay? They deserve proper burials. Pls?] - Naru

[...Understood. I'll take care of it. You get some rest, Naru-san.] - Ruiko

[Hey, do you think I could ever be a good person? .] - Naru

[Not sure that's possible for people like us. We _are_ bloodstained assassins.] - Ruiko

Naru's heart sank at that.

[But if it's possible, then I think you're already one.] - Ruiko

The Number 2's breath hitched at that.

[Naru-san?] - Ruiko

The blonde Level 5 didn't answer, but a small tear rolled down her cheek in happiness.

[Don't cry.] - Ruiko

Naru gave a teary giggle and nodded, sure her friend was watching.

[I'll try. Going to bed.] - Naru

[Thanks ;) ] - Naru

[Nite. No prob. It's what friends are for. Rest well.] - Ruiko

"Yeah… friends."

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless as always.**

 **Phew! That was a pretty interesting mini-arc, huh? Hope you guys enjoyed it and our own OC group Cosplay.**

 **Nameless: Hope you guys liked Cosplay. We had fun coming up with them and choreographing their demise. Honestly don't think we did some of them justice (Takizawa and Kusatsu comes to mind), but we did our best.**

 **Naru faced quite the moral dilemma in this arc and slowly but surely her mind is gearing towards trying to rise above the cesspool she's currently swimming in that is the Dark Side of AC.**

 **Nameless: This arc had quite bit of CD so we hope it wasn't as hamfisted as some of our earlier attempts. Tell us what you think. We've tried to take the constructive criticisms in the reviews onboard as much as possible so we'd really like your opinion on how well we did.**

 **And the interaction with ITEM was the most fun for me personally. Just the remarks and the talking between Naru and them were a blast.**

 **Nameless: Mine was the messaging scene at the end. The way we ended up having the girls discuss serious, weighty stuff while they messaged each other back and forth with light hearted text was just great. We didn't initially plan for that kind of effect but when we wrote it out, it just sorta happened and seeing it was amazing.**

 **You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Twenty Three: Adoption Festivities**

 **Beta:**

* * *

Naru was walking back to her dorm after a long day of shopping and as was her norm she was using one of the many quiet back alleys that ran through the _School Garden_ to do so.

She was just a couple of blocks away from her destination when out of nowhere the familiar bodysuit wearing form of her friend and rival Shutaura Sequenzia stepped out of an adjacent alley and blocked her path.

"Oh, Shutaura." Naru said in surprise. Doing a quick self-conscious look at herself, the blonde smiled. "What are you doing here in the _Garden_?"

"Have you heard of STUDY?" The older girl said without preamble.

Frowning a bit at the abrupt question, Naru said, "Not really. Some new group?"

"Not the answer I was expecting. I'd have thought that [Multi-Skill] would have briefed the rest of the Trinity by now." The Level 4 replied with a frown.

"Ruiko-chan doesn't give me a list of every dark secret in the City." Naru rolled her eyes. "If she did, I'd have no social life."

"True. She doesn't seem to have much of one herself."

"Hey now, you're the pot calling the kettle black aren't you?" Naru said, her eyes narrowed at the insult to her friend. "When was the last time _you_ did anything fun, Exhibitionist-san?"

"You're prickly today." Shutaura noted with a slight blush while sounding almost curious though she smothered the emotion quickly and put on her business face. "As fun as it is, I did not come to see you just to banter."

"Then why _did_ you drop by?"

"To inform you that _when_ you deal with STUDY, to not be too messy about it."

"Cryptic but understandable." Naru said while hefting her shopping bags. "Thanks for the tip off. See yo-"

The blonde turned and eyed two of her schoolmates who were walking down the same alley. Both of whom were eying her and Shutaura with interested looks even as they gave them both a respectfully wide berth.

 _Great. Now, there's going to be gossip about me and Shutaura flying all over the place!_

Naru felt a blush creep along her face at the thought. Stupid gossips, making things weird.

Shutaura's frown suggested she was perfectly aware of the rumors that were going to be spread as a result of them being spotted together.

"I ran into your friend Misaka Mikoto the other day." Shutaura said with a mild grimace. Apparently she really disliked making small talk.

Considering the circumstances, Naru had to agree. But splitting up right now would give the busybodies more fodder for their gossip. Better to play things off as them being a couple of friends running into each other and swapping stories.

"And what happened?"

"She was feeling a little shaken up." The Level 4 said as the girls turned a corner. "You might want to check up on her."

"How bad was it?"

"Not too bad. Are they out of earshot yet?"

"Yeah."

"If her psychological profile in the Bank is correct, then she should be fine in a couple days." Shutaura said in all seriousness. "But I'd watch her carefully for a while."

"Gotcha."

"Good. Then I'll make a move before we get _more_ spectators."

Naru offered the leader of the Black Crows a wave that got an acknowledging nod in return as the latter walked off.

 _STUDY huh?_ Naru mused as she resumed her walk home. _Well, they can wait. Gotta check on Sempai first._

* * *

The next day Naru was once again having lunch with the rest of the Trinity and their closest friends Uiharu-chan and Kuroko-chan at Joseph's Coffee and Restaurant, their favorite restaurant and hang out.

Like Shutaura had suggested, the blonde had been watching her Sempai closely and as expected she was very clearly down. So much so that both Uiharu-chan and Kuroko-chan were looking at her with concern as she listlessly picked at her food. The only one seemingly unconcerned was Ruiko-chan, though Naru had spotted her eying Mikoto-sempai every so often too.

"Uh. Misaka-san, are you okay?" Uiharu-chan asked worriedly.

"Just a little under the weather, is all." The [Railgun] deflected.

"And why is that, Onee-sama?" Kuroko asked sounding both insistent and concerned. "You're been like this for days."

"I-" The older girl began only to clam up and look away. "It's not something I want to talk about right now, alright?"

Sighing, Naru asked, "Was seeing the evil of the Dark Side really so shocking?"

Ruiko-chan nudged the her with her foot and spoke up. "Sempai, it's okay. The first time is always the hardest."

"Eh? First time? Onee-sama, what does she mean by that?" Kuroko-chan asked, a frantic look in her eyes as her twintails spun in a tizzy. "What does that mean?!"

"W-What are you even thinking?!" Sempai shouted as she stood up and repeatedly shocked Kuroko-chan with bolts of static until she was charred black.

Unfazed by the display, Naru let out a small snort of amusement.

Shaking her head at the display, Ruiko-chan stood.

"I'll give them the cliff notes." She said as she gestured for Uiharu-chan to follow as she walked to the bathrooms, picking up the twitching piece of charcoal that was Kuroko-chan along the way.

"Anyways, heard you had to deal with an official 'liaison' from the City during the whole thing?"

Mikoto-sempai mumbled irritably under her breath at that.

"So Shutaura got under your skin too?" Naru asked knowingly.

"Ugh, she was so, so haughty! Like she knew everything!"

"Yeah, she's a real pain, but she cares in her own way. Though she can be a total bitch too." Naru smirked.

"Right?!" Mikoto shouted and slammed a hand on the table, sparks dancing around her forehead.

"We should totally find some time to just vent about how much of an ass that girl can be." Naru suggested hopefully.

"Definite-"

Their discussion was cut off when Kuroko, fresh as a daisy, teleported into Sempai's lap and hugged her tightly.

"Oh Onee-sama! For such a thing to happen to you! I'm so sorry you had to endure such a tragedy. I swear, next time I'll be right there to aid you in anyway possible!"

Naru waited for Kuroko-chan to be shocked again, but surprisingly it didn't come as Mikoto-sempai actually hugged her back in silence.

As if that wasn't surreal enough, suddenly the completely unathletic Uiharu-chan ran out from the bathroom area to join the hug in a tackle. A tackle that sent the three girls toppling to the ground in a messy sprawl of limbs.

"Onee-sama-" Kuroko opened her mouth, presumably to say something that would get her shocked but amazingly seemed to restrain herself this time and with clear reluctance gave their Sempai one last hug before pushing to her feet.

The blonde looked to Ruiko-chan, who was walking back to their table at a sedate pace. She just offered her a confused shrug in response. Naru understood, neither of them really understood what was with the dramatics. Seeing people die wasn't _that_ big of a deal, right?

"I don't see the big deal." Ruiko-chan said giving voice to their mutual thoughts. "Seeing people die is a common thing on the Dark Side, it's just something to get over."

Naru nodded in agreement.

"Saten-san!" Uiharu-chan cried out in dismay before pulling her best friend into a hug. "That just means you need more hugs."

Ruiko-chan looked adorably confused but nevertheless returned the Level 1's friendly embrace.

Pulling out her phone, Naru was about to snap a photo of the look and send it off to Accelerator when she was blindsided by the [Railgun].

"Usagi does too." Mikoto-sempai nodded firmly and pulled her into one as well.

"H-Hey! Let me go!" Naru exclaimed and struggled with her stupidly strong Sempai, but quickly quelled her outrage and went limp. Hugs weren't something she had much experience with but...

 _This feels… nice._

* * *

After the highly emotional and for Naru and Ruiko-chan highly confusing lunch, it was decided - almost unilaterally by Uiharu-chan, not that anyone objected - that they should head out to do something fun and to forget the gloominess. Since they were all feeling a little tired after all the hugging, they opted for a relaxing walk through a park.

Their sempai however was still very withdrawn.

Everyone had tried their best to be comforting. Especially Kuroko-chan who was even restraining herself from being her usual clingy, lecherous self.

Which was a shame since Naru always loved watching her in action. It gave her plenty of ideas.

Sighing in apparent frustration at their Sempai's mood, Ruiko-chan said, "Sempai, brooding won't do you any good. You just have to get used to things like this when on the Dark Side."

This earned the Number 3 another hug from Uiharu-chan.

"I agree with Ruiko-chan." Naru said as she looked off into the distance and her thoughts went back to Cosplay.

Seeing her melancholy, Uiharu-chan pulled away from Ruiko-chan to hug Naru instead.

"So many hugs…" The blonde said in confusion.

"You need more!" The genius hacker said as she stepped out of the hug.

Uiharu-chan was surprisingly bossy when she wanted to be.

Appreciative of the care the flower crown wearing girl was showing, Naru decided to help her out and coax a laugh out of her gloomy Sempai.

"Yo, Sempai. Got a question for you. Why is Gekota always so happy?"

The Number 5 blinked in confusion for a moment, before just shaking her head. "No idea."

Smirking, Naru supplied the wise answer. "Because he's a frog and they eat whatever bugs them!"

Mikoto-sempai released a snort of laughter, but that was about it.

Pouting at not getting any further reaction, she decided to step up her game to what she did best.

Annoy the heck out of her Sempai.

"Hm, maybe your secret boyfriend would have liked that better?" Teased the loli blonde.

"Boyfriend!?" Kuroko-chan shrieked, only to be shushed by Ruiko-chan and Uiharu-chan.

"W-what the hell are you talking about?" Mikoto-sempai replied with her predictable defensiveness.

"Eh? You don't remember your secret boyfriend you ran off to see all those lonely nights by the riverside? Getting all hot and sweaty with him until you're both exhausted?" Naru said ever so innocently.

Mikoto-sempai's face turned beet red and stuttered, "W-W-What do you e-e-even mean?! That n-never happened!"

"WHAT!?" Kuroko-chan screamed in absolute horror. She looked at her roommate and demanded, "Onee-sama, how could you do this to me? Is Kuroko not enough for you?!"

There was suddenly the sound of a static burst.

"That wasn't me." Mikoto-sempai said looking surprised.

"Saten-san!" Uiharu-chan called out chidingly.

Naru turned at the same time as Mikoto-sempai did to find Kuroko-chan twitching at [Multi-Skill]'s feet.

"It's how Sempai handles it." Ruiko-chan shrugged.

"...Semapi, you're a bad influence."

"How is it always my fault?!"

"Because it is?" Naru needled.

"Hey!"

"Give Naru-san a pass on her teasing today, would you?" Ruiko-chan asked their Sempai. "It _did_ manage to get you to stop being so withdrawn."

"Hmph. As if!" The proud [Railgun] asserted. "I just decided that it's a waste being all sad on such a beautiful day is all."

"Whatever, you say Sempai." Ruiko-chan said with an indulgent smile.

Naru winked at the older girl, who looked away with pink cheeks.

"And Naru-san, mind easing off on the teasing too?" Ruiko-chan asked, shooting her a pleading look. "Just for today?"

"Oh fine. But only because you asked so nicely~!"

"Thank you."

"If I can't tease, I've gotta ask ya Sempai. How was your interaction with the Black Crows besides Shutaura? I mean we're both on the same wavelength there, but I want to know what you think about the rest of the outfit." Naru asked curiously as she walked up to her Sempai's side.

"Namikaze-san! That's still about the Incident!" A recovered Kuroko-chan said worriedly as she eyed her roommate cautiously.

"It's alright." Mikoto-sempai replied. "Better to satisfy the Chibi now rather than let her bug me for the next few weeks just to get her answers."

"Hehe." Naru made a victory sign with her fingers.

"The Black Crows were… serious, professional. Like Anti-Skill but even better." Mikoto-sempai said, tapping her chin in thought.

"I agree with that." Ruiko-chan agreed. "They _are_ one of better paramilitary units in the City."

"And let's not forget about Shutaura and her no-nonsense attitude. She's practically got a heart of stone at times." Naru commented with a light laugh.

"I wouldn't go so far in describing her, but her attitude is indeed one of the reasons they are as good as they are."

"Meh, it's just a joke. Though she is a hard ass." The blonde stated, pink dusted her cheeks as she remembered how _that_ particular part of Shutaura felt the last time she'd managed to get a feel of it.

"Is the Chibi blushing!?" Mikoto-sempai asked incredulously.

"What? No! Just thinking of something your innocent mind couldn't comprehend. Hmph!"

"Saten-chan! I'll pay for Uiharu's next ten trips to Pasticceria Manicagni! Tell me what's got the Chibi blushing like that!" The Number 5 crowed victoriously.

"When did this become about me?!" Naru demanded indignantly.

"Make that twe-"

Ruiko-chan was cut off when Uiharu-chan stepped on her foot.

"Enough with the teasing. Of _everyone_." The computing genius demanded. "We're here to have fun and relax, not make each other uncomfortable!"

"Hai." All four of the other girls replied sheepishly.

"Good. Now, let's go eat cake!"

"...Uiharu-chan, you certainly know how to take advantage of a situation." Naru dryly pointed out.

The Level 1 just smiled mischievously, as they all followed her lead and headed in the direction of a nearby cafe they frequented. It wasn't Pasticceria Manicagni, but it was still good enough for the confectionary connoisseur that was Uiharu-chan.

"I learned how to do it from a master." Uiharu-chan said offering Naru a mock bow.

Naru blinked. "Huh, did not see that coming."

"Indeed. I'm full of surprises." The programming genius said proudly. "Speaking of surprises, any of those came up in your career guidance sessions?"

"I'm curious to know that too." Kuroko-chan said as they walked past a patch of lilies in the park. "Mine was rather normal. I'm planning to become a teacher so I can join Anti-Skill."

"So you just want to join Anti-Skill." Naru rolled her eyes. "You and your obsession with law enforcement."

"Hmph! I can't help that I would look good in uniform. Though you are right."

"If that's the case, then you might be better off joining one of the City's paramilitary organizations instead." Ruiko-chan suggested.

"Not in a million years." Kuroko-chan replied with disdain. "There's no way I'll ever become part of the Dark Side. Not after what it's done to Onee-sama and the two of you."

Naru exchanged a look with Ruiko-chan. The brunette shook her head and she nodded. Best to just avoid the whole can of worms that was discussing the Dark Side.

"I think it's a great idea Kuroko. You'd actually be a good teacher with all the hovering that you do." Mikoto-sempai nodded in agreement.

"Really?" The auburn haired girl asked with sparkles in her eyes. "Thank you, Onee-sama!"

 _Kuroko-chan, don't you see that it's a complisult?_ Naru thought dryly.

"So~," Mikoto-sempai drawled hastily, eying the eager look Kuroko-chan was sporting warily. "I really didn't get anything out of the session myself, though maybe that's because I was preoccupied with other things."

That sombered the mood somewhat as they recalled what had happened during her brush with the Dark Side.

"Well," Naru perked up, trying to draw everyone's attention away from that line of thought. "It wasn't very useful for me either. Ruiko-chan, how did it go for you?"

The Number 3 actually blushed and sighed, "It was completely embarrassing. Kaa-san insisted on attending and spent the whole time talking with the counselor about how to best prepare me for a career in AIM fields research."

"Ah, so she railroaded it huh?" Mikoto-sempai nodded in understanding.

A cloud of gloom hovered around Ruiko-chan as she nodded.

"But isn't that what you always wanted?" Uiharu-chan asked her best friend curiously.

"Yes, but I didn't need Kaa-san taking over things like that. I felt like an observer throughout the whole session. I barely even said anything."

"Well, Kiyama-sensei can be a little domineering at times." The genius hacker said as she patted her friend comfortingly.

"At least she was looking out for you?" Kuroko-chan suggested.

"Maybe doing things like this is the only ways she feels she can take care of you?" Mikoto-sempai added on. "I mean with your information broker business it's not like you need her to support you and you're pretty independent too."

"Don't forget being a Level 5." Naru chimed in helpfully.

"That too," The [Railgun] agreed. "Basically I think she might just have been trying to show you that she cares."

"Hmph." [Multi-Skill] grunted in irritation. "She should know that she doesn't need to do that. Of course I know that she cares."

"Yeah, but she's your Kaa-san. She'd want to show it, you know?" Uiharu-chan told her friend with a squeeze around her shoulders. "It's what they do!"

"I guess." Ruiko-chan replied, sounding unconvinced. "But enough about me. Uiharu, how about you? What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"What?"

"Everyone's had a go." Naru said with a playful smirk. "It's only fair that you tell us too."

"Oh, um, you see, Kiyama-sensei actually made a deal for me to work on Saten-san's research team and help with their cybersecurity. I always wanted to be a software engineer and it lets me help Saten-san out, so it's killing two birds with one stone."

Naru shot Ruiko-chan a dirty look. "You've called dibs already?"

Said Level 5 just blinked in confusion. "When did this happen? Why am I only hearing about it now?"

"You didn't know?" Kuroko-chan asked, shocked that the info broker had missed something right under her nose. A sentiment shared by Mikoto-sempai if her wide eyed look was any indication.

"Ha! Looks like your Kaa-san knows how to slip past her daughter's net." Naru giggled into her hands. It was pretty amusing.

"I do try my best to keep my surveillance on my family and friends as light as possible, you know." Ruiko-chan said defensively, her shoulders tightening. "I don't want to invade their privacy, just keep them safe. That said, Uiharu, tell me more about this deal."

"And you said you respect people's privacy." Naru shot back with a snicker.

"Hush, Namikaze-san. Considering I'm gonna be working on Saten-san's team, it's only fair to let her know."

"I guess."

"Kiyama-sensei has agreed to sponsor my high school and university fees at Kirigaoka Girls' Academy if I work as part of your team, Saten-san." Uiharu-chan informed happily.

Turning to her fellow Judgement agent, she continued, "We're still working out the timing when I start work because well, I uh, plan to q-quit Judgement when I do. I won't have the time."

"E-Eh?" Kuroko-chan blinked, a stunned look on her face. Her shoulders slagged as she stopped walking.

"It shouldn't be until I start high school though." Uiharu-chan reassured her partner. "At least that's what I'm aiming for. Kiyama-sensei is, um-"

"Being difficult?" Ruiko-chan guessed. "I'll talk to her."

"Thank you, Saten-san." Uiharu-chan offered earnestly.

"I-I understand. Know that you have my full support Uiharu!" Kuroko-chan said having regained her composure, though there was still a small quiver in her voice. "If anyone deserves such a position it is certainly you."

"Shirai-san…" Uiharu-chan beamed at her friend.

"Heh, Uiharu-chan really lucked out." The blonde pointed out, but on the inside she felt a sense of bitterness take her. _Lucky, I still have no idea what I'm going to do for the rest of my life._

"I honestly don't know what to think about this." Ruiko-chan confessed after a moment of silence. "I'm thrilled by the idea and a little embarrassed that I didn't come up with it myself. But are you sure this is what you want, Uiharu?"

"Yup." Uiharu-chan said with cheerful honesty.

"If you're sure." Ruiko-chan said, still looking conflicted though that vanished when she caught sight of something off in the distance. "Is that girl passed out?"

"Huh?" Naru asked oh so intelligently as she turned to look where her friend had been only to see she'd already teleported to the side of a little blonde girl dressed in a cute gothic lolita style dress lying in a flower bed a short distance ahead. "She could be napping. It's a nice day."

"In a flower bed?" Kuroko-chan asked incredulously. "That's liable to get her a fine."

"Geez, she's just a kid." Naru rolled her eyes. "Can you lay off your obsession with law and order for five seconds?"

"As least she looks fine, or Saten-chan would be panicking by now." Mikoto-sempai noted with a teasing smirk.

"Or teleported her off to the nearest hospital." Uiharu-chan said with a sigh. "She's always overreacting. I still remember how she freaked out the last time I scraped my knee."

The rest of the girls walked on over, curious about how the small girl was doing.

Naru blamed Ruiko-chan's paranoia. It was infectious.

They arrived just as the little girl woke up and pushed herself to her knees.

"What's your name?" Uiharu-chan asked the girl with an approachable smile.

"F-Febrie." The girl replied with a yawn while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

She looked so adorable that Naru almost squealed. She _totally_ didn't need to restrain herself from doing so. Totally.

 ** _Keep telling yourself that._** Kurama commented, his tone dripping with amusement.

And once again, Naru ignored the voice in her head in favor of looking at the tiny cutie.

"She's even chibi-ier than the Chibi." Mikoto-sempai commented, apparently won over by her charm as well.

The enraptured look on Kuroko-chan and Uiharu-chan's faces suggested they were too. Heck, even the ever stoic Ruiko-chan was looking at the girl with tenderness Naru had only ever seen her sport when with her siblings and Uiharu-chan.

Sighing, Naru decided to take charge and offered a friendly smile to the girl. "Hi! I'm Naru. It's nice to meet you Febrie-chan. Whatcha doing here all by yourself?"

"Trinity of Tokiwadai." The little girl muttered out seemingly involuntarily, as immediately after speaking she blinked in confusion.

The girls stiffened at the mention of the name of their group.

"Eh? What was that?" Naru asked the young girl.

The girl was spooked by her forwardness however and running around her, tucked herself into Ruiko-chan's side while clutching the taller girl's skirt nervously.

 _I-I'm scary?!_ Naru actually felt disheartened by this.

Ruiko-chan shot Naru a look to back off even as she patted the girl comfortingly on the head and reassured her that they were friendly.

 _Don't give me that dirty look! I asked nicely!_ Naru glared the Number 3 in turn.

With a put upon sigh, Mikoto-sempai stepped forward and squatted down so she was level with the girl and began fishing in her pockets for something. A small pink Gekota finger puppet. She also pulled out a hair pin and stuffed it inside and laid it on her palm. With a small burst of electricity, she brought the small figure to life.

"Hi there!" The electromaster said in a high pitched voice while covering her mouth. Using her electromagnetism she had the puppet wiggle back and forth as she continued. "What are you doing here, Febrie-chan?"

"Leave it to Onee-sama to understand a child's mind." Kuroko-chan nodded sagely.

Their Sempai twitched at that, but said nothing and settled for a glare at the tawny haired girl. Naru could tell the Judgement officer was going to pay for that remark later.

Febrie exploited the distraction though to grab the Gekota finger puppet and run back behind Ruiko-chan's back.

"Hey!" Mikoto-sempai roared, only to get a withering look from the Number 3. "That's a one in twenty-four chances to get pink Gekota!"

"You're scaring her." [Multi-Skill] said in a voice that reminded Naru uncomfortably of her friend's [Army Slayer] days. "Stop."

Everyone froze at her tone, well everyone but Febrie who just hugged her waist with a smile on her face apparently pleased someone was standing up for her.

 _Note to self. Don't upset little girls when Mama Bear Ruiko-chan is around._

 ** _Good advice. She's scary and this is_** **me _saying that._** Kurama said, while he shifted nervously in his corner of her mind,

Sighing, [Multi-Skill] looked down at Febrie. "Why don't we see if we can find your parents, okay?"

The girl seemed confused, but nodded nonetheless.

 _Guess our trip to the cafe is short. At least the Judgment 177 Branch Office has cake too._

 ** _Wherever that flower girl works, there's always going to be cake. Seriously, she's practically addicted to it._**

"Mmm." Mikoto-sempai whined, looking disheartened at the loss of her precious Gekota but a glare from Ruiko-chan had her zipping her mouth.

* * *

The girls brought the young blonde to the 177 Judgement Office. It was dusk outside but Uiharu and Shirai-san were still busily working on spreading the word of the missing child they'd found.

"So mind telling me why you've latched onto her so strongly?" Naru-san asked, gesturing at Febrie.

Not taking her eyes off the girl sleeping with her head on her lap, Ruiko replied. "She reminds me of myself."

"You want to talk about it?" The blonde asked.

Ruiko considered the offer. On one hand, she really didn't like talking about _that day_. But on the other… She'd already showed Shirai-san and Uiharu some of her memories about that tragedy. It was only fair she told Naru-san about it too.

"I was about her age when I was orphaned." Ruiko told her friend in a whisper. "Looking at her makes me feel like I'm looking at my past self."

"Hee, that sucks." The blonde replied simply. Most people would go, 'oh how horrible' or 'you poor dear', but the blue eyed girl knew better. Ruiko didn't want any more pity. Naru-san was probably the closest person to truly understanding her outside of her Kaa-san and Accel.

"This is most peculiar. Not only has no one called looking for her," Shirai-san said as she led the others over to the rest area where Ruiko, Naru-san and Febrie were waiting on them for news. "But we've checked all the missing persons reports and none of them match Febrie's description."

"Anti-Skill is uncontactable at the moment too, for some reason." Uiharu added with a frown.

"Any luck on your end, Saten-chan?" Sempai asked hopefully.

Ruiko set her face into a frown and shook her head. "No. I cannot even identify her. No records, no listings, not even a picture outside of the park's security footage. Which had been wiped clear prior."

"That's super suspicious." Naru-san said with a frown of her own. "It's almost as if she's part of some super secret experiment."

"Another Dark Side plot?" Shirai-san hissed distastefully.

"Do you even _know_ the number of Dark Side operations going on? Kuroko-chan, your pretty little head would pop if I told you what's out there. And Ruiko-chan knows of even more!"

"And I cannot find anything related to Febrie at all." Ruiko repeated, even as she continued to mine the City's information networks for clues to the little girl's identity.

"So something super secret?" Sempai asked sounding apprehensive. "How dangerous are we talking about here?"

Naru-san shrugged and replied. "Depends. It could be some dark secret my boss wants to keep hidden and will kill to keep quiet or it could just be some no name group whose got some exceptional talent at keeping a secret."

"Either way she's likely in danger." Uiharu concluded, to nods from both Ruiko and Naru-san. "Then what should we do with her? Somehow set her up with some kind of protective custody?"

"I'll watch out for her for now." Ruiko stated. "I have experience with my younger siblings and we have spare rooms at our house. It's for the best. Although I may need some help."

She sent a small pleading look to Uiharu.

"Ah! Of course! It can be a big sleepover." The Level 1 beamed. "I'll go get my pajamas!"

"Then it's settled." Naru-san said cheerfully. "Just don't level too much of the City if an idiot decides to break into your house to kidnap the kid."

Ruiko nodded. She'd keep the collateral damage down, no promises on what she'd do to any would be kidnappers though.

"You two are kidding, right?" Shirai-san asked uneasily.

"Just hope you don't need to find out." Naru-san said with a sad smile.

* * *

After a day of rest, the girls had all returned to the Judgement Office where Konori Mii was there waiting.

"I see." Konori-sempai frowned as she looked at the girl who was sucking on one of her seemingly omnipresent lollipops.

Febrie's love of the lollipops deeply upset Ruiko, because it wasn't entirely out of preference but a matter of survival. When she'd brought the girl home last night, her Kaa-san had insisted on giving the little blonde a quick checkup. Unfortunately, that had led to the discovery that Febrie's body produced a poison that could kill her if she stopped eating the lollipops which a little investigation had revealed contained a counteragent.

"So you've been taking care of her while you try to find her guardians?" Konori-sempai asked, pulling Ruiko away from her dark thoughts.

"It seemed like the right thing to do. It would be much better than to leave her with some office to handle." Uiharu frowned.

"Especially if our suspicions are correct." Ruiko added, as she looked at the adorable girl flipping through a picture book she'd bought on the way over.

"What you've done is probably for the best." Konori-sempai said in agreement. "Any luck?"

"None." Ruiko said with a frown, something that caused her facial muscles to ache with how often she'd been doing so lately. She'd worked all night, even as her body slept to find a clue as to Febrie's origins but had found nothing. "But I'll keep looking."

" _We'll_ keep looking." Uiharu corrected, causing Ruiko to smile at the show of solidarity.

"Um," Febrie said as she raced over and pulled on Ruiko's skirt. She looked down into those amethyst eyes who looked back at her shyly. "T-Toilet."

"Alright. Come on." Ruiko nodded and offered the young girl her hand as she escorted her to the restroom.

"So what's with those lollipops?" She heard Konori-sempai ask Uiharu as she led Febrie away.

The mere mention of the damn things had her frowning again but a tug on her hand by the little girl distracted her from her anger as she focused on helping her with using the bathroom. It wasn't easy though as the fact that she had to do so for a girl that had to be six or seven years old infuriated her even more. Who were these bastards who didn't even bother to toilet train a little girl? She managed though, as it seemed that Febrie remained unaware of the fury bubbling just below her skin.

"Hey Ruiko-chan, what's in these lollipops?" Naru-san shouted from the rest area as they returned to the rest of the office, waving one of Febrie's lollis at her.

"How many have you opened!?" Ruiko demanded immediately as she teleported over to the rest area to find Shirai-san snatching the lolli back and examining it quizzically. She saw red and spun to glare at the teleporter but before she could do anything rash a small body crashed into her side and hugged her waist tightly. The feel of Febrie's body calmed her down enough to think rationally, but she kept up the angry glare as she spun to Uiharu.

"You didn't tell them?"

"I tried." Uiharu said, looking as cross as she was. "Shirai-san insisted on testing it in our own labs."

"You don't trust Kaa-san's analysis?" Ruiko demanded of the Level 4.

"Of course I do." Shirai-san replied calmly, though the nervous twitch of her fingers suggested she was unsettled by Ruiko's anger. "But Kiyama-sensei isn't a chemist or biologist. I think getting a more qualified specialist opinion is a good idea."

"A second opinion wouldn't hurt." Naru-san pointed out. "Maybe they can come up with another way to counteract that poison Febrie's body is making or how to duplicate the counteragent?"

Ruiko pursed her lips. The logical side of her brain agreed with the suggestion. Still, another more confusing part of her remained angry that they wanted to take even a single lolli away.

"Ruiko," Febrie chimed in, nervous but determined. "It's okay. I still have plenty."

As if to prove her point, the girl picked up her satchel that contained the life sustaining sweets from the table where she'd left it when she'd gone to the toilet and patted it.

"Alright, you can run some tests." Ruiko reluctantly agreed. "But only on that one piece. I'm not giving you anymore. The formula for the drug is too complex. Even if you do find someone who can do it, they'll need some time to figure out how to do so and then produce more of it. In the meantime, Febrie's supply of the lollipops is limited and is steadily running out. We need to ration what we have left."

"We understand." Konori-sempai said reassuringly. "We'll take good care of the sample."

Ruiko nodded, accepting that this was the best she'd be able to get out of her friends.

"You realize that this poison thing basically confirms that Febrie is involved with something on the Dark Side?" Naru-san commented.

"As if that was in any doubt."

"When I get my hands on the sick bastards-"

"I share your sentiments Sempai, but mind your language." Ruiko chided the older girl as she removed her hands covering Febrie's ears. "And get in line. I get to go first."

"So long as you leave something for us." Naru-san added, with a bloodthirsty grin.

"I didn't hear anything," Konori-sempai said, looking pained. "But off the record, so long as you keep them alive and relatively intact? Go wild."

The Trinity looked at each other and replied with a simultaneous "Hai."

"Namikaze-san might be right that Febrie is mixed up in something from the Dark Side." Uiharu grudgingly admitted. "I've looked through every database I have access to, and even some I shouldn't, and there's nothing about her at all."

"We added her to the missing persons registry, but there hasn't been any hits." Shirai-san said with an unhappy frown. "I know this is a long shot, but maybe Febrie is a Child Error with some kind of rare condition?"

"I don't think so." Konori-sempai refuted, with a thoughtful look. "If that were the case, there should still be some record of her."

She looked to Uiharu questioningly and the hacker just shook her head.

The conversation was interrupted by a ringing of the door bell and the group turned as one to look towards the office entrance.

"It's Banri-chan and Haruue-san." Ruiko noted, as with a casual wave of her hand she unlocked the door. "They did say they'd drop by after finishing settling into their new apartment."

"Heya Rui-chan." Banri-chan greeted as she walked in with a happy smile, a less enthusiastic but still visibly happy Haruue-san trailing behind her.

"Hello everyone."

"Good morning, Banri-chan, Haruue-san." Ruiko greeted, one of many greetings the group exchanged.

Febrie snuggled closer to her as she peeked from behind her.

"Who's this?" Banri-chan asked bending down to look the little blonde in the eye.

"Febrie, say hello to my sister and her friend." Ruiko urged the small girl.

"Onee-chan?" The little girl asked curiously.

Ruiko and Banri-chan both nodded.

At that confirmation, it was like a switch had been flipped in Febrie's mind as she suddenly smiled brilliantly and glomped onto Banri-chan with a cheerful cry of "Onee-san!"

"Hello, Febrie-chan," Her telepathic sister said as she returned the hug. "It's nice to meet you."

Leaning down to speak to the girl, Harrue-san also offered the girl a greeting. "Hello, Febrie."

"Hello, Onee-sama." The suddenly energetic girl replied as she pulled back from Banri-chan to smile up at Haruue-san.

"Eh?" Mikoto-sempai whined and looked down. "Why is she so nice to everyone but me."

"Children are able to sense who's good and who's not." Naru-san factually informed their Sempai.

"What was that you-you Chibi!?" Mikoto-sempai half shouted, her face red in anger.

Naru-san looked away and sighed, "Point proven, Sempai."

"Grrr."

"So why is she here being all clingy with Rui-chan?" Banri-chan asked.

"We found her in the park and she went all baby chick with Ruiko-chan." Naru-san teasingly smiled at the brunette.

"We thinks she's a Child Error involved in a Dark Side operation." Ruiko informed her sister. "I'm taking care of her until she's safe."

"Eh? This little cutie? How terrible!" Banri-chan pouted as she looked closer at the young blonde.

"So she has nowhere to go?" Haruue-san asked with a frown.

"I've got Ruiko." Febrie replied childishly even as ran back over and latched onto the aforementioned girl's waist.

"Well, at least we know you'll take good care of her." Banri-chan said with a smile. "You always did have a way with Park-chan and Kenta-kun, so I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Saten-san has a way with children it seems." Uiharu agreed with a smile. "She was great with Febrie last night."

"She's always been good with younger children." Banri-chan confirmed, before turning to her sister. "Just keep her away from Sensei when she's doing something crazy okay? We don't want her picking up her bad habits."

"Having so many siblings makes it easy." Ruiko couldn't help but crack a small smile. "And Kaa-san isn't that bad."

Everyone snorted at that, even the usually mousy Haruue-san. Ruiko should have taken offense on her mother's behalf but she had to admit that she could be quite the eccentric at times.

"Have you decided on anything long-term?" Haruue-san asked, seemingly fixated on Febrie's housing situation for some reason. "You've gotta be careful when choosing facilities you know, not all of them are nice."

"We can check up on several facilities but our main concern right now are these life sustaining lollipops." Shirai-san chimed in, looking up from where she was breaking up the lollipop she'd taken into separate bags, likely intending to send them out as samples to Judgement's affiliated labs.

"Huh?" Banri-chan asked, confused.

"Ruiko's Kaa-san said I need to eat them to not die." Febrie said, looking sad and prompting Ruiko to pull her into a comforting hug.

Banri-chan and Harrue-san's eyes both widened in shock and turned to look at the others for confirmation, receiving only grim nods in return.

"We have it handled. The same for Febrie's care in the long-term." Ruiko said, cutting through the tension. "Once everything's settled, I'll take her in. Permanently."

Febrie gasped at that and returned Ruiko's hug even more tightly.

"Permanently? Is Sensei okay with that?"

"I talked to her last night. She complained a bit-"

"She does that about everything." Banri-chan noted with an exasperated sigh.

"But she agreed in the end." Ruiko concluded.

"Heh, that sounds like it'll be fun!" Naru-san grinned at Fabrie. "We need another cute blonde on the team."

She sent a wink Fabrie's way, causing her to giggle at Naru-san's words.

"So~ You've become Sensei 2.0 or what? Adopting kids now?" Banri-chan asked teasingly.

"I think that's pretty great of you, Saten-chan." Mikoto-sempai smiled. "Isn't it Febrie?"

As expected, Febrie responded by hiding behind Ruiko's back. Shooting Mikoto-sempai an apologetic look, the Number 3 patted Febrie's head comfortingly.

Their sempai just looked downcast, prompting Naru-san to pat her back reassuringly.

"I'm with Misaka-san here, Saten-san. You're doing a wonderful thing." Konori-sempai said, with Uiharu nodding along in agreement.

"It's nothing," Ruiko deflected. "I have the funding and it's better than other alternatives." Turning to her sister, she added. "And at least I'm not taking after Kaa-san's obliviousness to social norms."

Banri-chan broke out into giggles at that, and Ruiko soon joined her.

"Alright, Uiharu, we have that security meeting for the upcoming Research Exhibition Assembly." Shirai-san said, as she stood. Evidence bags full of the lollipop samples in one hand and her other raised to look at the time on her phone.

"That's going to be fun." Konori-sempai sarcastically said as she stood up and stretched causing her ample bosoms to jiggle. It sent a surge of jealousy through Ruiko, but she suppressed it.

 _I really hope Accel isn't a boobs man._ Her mind traitorously thought.

"So group field trip?" Naru-san grinned as she jumped out of her seat.

"You want to come along, Namikaze-san?" Uiharu asked, surprised.

"I don't have anything important to do." The twintailed blonde shrugged. "Might be interesting."

"Neither do I," Mikoto-sempai confessed.

"Febrie?" Ruiko asked her charge.

"It'll be fun?"

"Super duper fun." Her fellow blonde whispered all conspiratorially.

"I wanna go! I wanna go!"

"...What are you, the child whisperer?" Mikoto-sempai said in bewilderment.

"Kids and I connect on a spiritual level. Unlike meanie-Mikoto-sempai."

"Gah! You are so uncute! Why can't you work on that attitude of yours?"

As the comedic duo descended into one of their usual skits, Ruiko turned to her sister.

"We'd love to go too, but we probably should get back to fixing up our apartment." Banri-chan said apologetically.

"Sorry." Haruue added with a bow.

"Everyone ready?" Shirai-san asked impatiently. "We need to leave _now_ if we don't want to be late."

Teleporting to the door and looking back at the rest of them with an expectant look, Naru-san asked, "What's taking you girls so long?"

* * *

As the group arrived at the university campus that would be hosting the meeting and was itself one of the venues for the Research Exhibition Assembly, they made an odd sight. This was entirely because Febrie had opted to sit on 'Naru-nee-san's' shoulders. A move that had prompted their Sempai to joke that with their combined height they could pretend to be one person.

It merely made Febrie stay away from her even more and earned her kicks to the shin from Ruiko and Naru-san.

 _Sempai has absolutely no tack!_ Ruiko fumed. _Imagine saying that to a little girl._

Sadly Shirai-san was there to console the dejected Electromaster. In Ruiko's opinion the older girl deserved to wallow in her misery a little and reflect on her mistakes.

"Nee-san, where are the super duper fun stuff?" Febrie asked, rolling her lolly in her mouth.

"I think there's a display stand where we can play with some of the toys."

"N-Namikaze-san, those _toys_ are used for subduing hostiles being displayed by the participants of the Assembly. They are not for children to play with!" Uiharu scolded the blonde.

"So? Febrie-chan would look cute holding a net launcher!"

"Nets!" Febrie cheered in agreement.

"Please don't let her near anything dangerous." Ruiko warned her classmate.

"No munitions and explosives. You got it." Naru-san said with a salute, before running off with Febrie still on her shoulders to try out the 'toys'.

"How does she do that?" Mikoto-sempai pouted. "Since when has she ever been good with kids?"

"Onee-sama, clearly as a child herself, Namikaze-san is of the same wavelength as Febrie." Shirai-san told her.

Keeping one eye on the two blondes via the campus' surveillance system, Ruiko looked around her and sighed.

"And once again, there's barely anyone here. Why can't the Assembly be packed like the City's other more frivolous events?"

"You know why, Saten-san." Konori-sempai shook her head. "The Research Exhibition Assembly is designed to showcase the research and development going on in the City. Not celebrations and having fun. Children are more drawn to the latter after all."

Once more, Ruiko found herself sighing in agreement. She'd attended the event last year with her mother and had seen for herself how unpopular it was. Practically every attendee had sat in for Kaa-san's presentation, but they had barely filled five rows of the hall. "It's just… so disappointing. We're a city of science yet all those great minds would rather play then come here to learn."

"Hey, look who we found!" Naru-san called as she ran back, Febrie now running behind her. Though, Ruiko noted approvingly, she'd made sure to keep hold of her hand.

"Is she wearing a SWAT helmet?"

"We got a freebie for Febrie." Naru-san said excitedly, before gesturing to Awatsuki-san, Wannai-san and Kongou-san trailing behind the two blondes. "It's Awatsuki-chan and her friends."

The trio of her schoolmates began exchanging greetings, but Ruiko just looked down into Febrie's beaming face as she showed off her 'freebie'. "Had fun?"

"Uhm." The girl affirmed with a rigorous nod that had the oversized and upon closer examination clearly mock SWAT helmet falling forward to cover her face. Smiling at the girl's antics, Ruiko helped her push it back into its proper place.

"When we ran into Namikaze-san and her little sister, we decided to join them." Kongou-san said with a snap of her fan that had Ruiko tuning back into the conversation. "Truly a loving sight."

"Her sister?" Ruiko asked, her voice chilly.

"How could she not be? They look so perfect together. Ah, I feel envious."

"Kongou-baka!" Febrie said suddenly as she glomped Ruiko's side. "I'm with Ruiko-nee!"

"E-Eh?" The heiress blinked in surprise. "Truly? It seems I have erred."

"Yeah," Naru-san said in a stage whisper to the Level 4. "Forget it and Ruiko-chan is liable to ream you a new one. Maybe literally."

"Eh?!" Kongou-san fretted and looked very nervous, but Naru-san just patted her back assuringly.

"So, what are you guys doing here?" Mikoto-sempai asked Wannai-san and Awatsuki-san.

"Our seniors are presenting in the Assembly this year." Wannai-san explained. "Awatsuki-chan and I volunteered to help them set up for their presentation."

"Again?" Sempai said, blinking in confusion. "It almost seems like the Swim Club seniors always have something they need your help with."

"They do seem to call on you two a lot." Shirai-san agreed.

"It's a living, hehe." Awatsuki-san giggled.

"I guess you just decided to tag along?" Naru-san asked Kongou-san.

"Of course! After all, what friend would not aid another?" The overly dramatic girl declared.

Naru-san shot her a thumbs up.

"You're a good friend, Kongou-san." Konori-sempai complimented the girl who blushed in response.

"Konori-sempai, Shirai-san, it's time to go." Uiharu said, as she looked up from her tablet where she'd been reviewing the agenda for the meeting.

"I guess we'll walk about until you guys are done." Naru-san said and looked at Febrie. "Should we get some more swag?"

"Swag!"

"Only you Namikaze-san." Awatsuki-san said with an amused shake of her head at her roommate's antics.

"I'm gifted." The taller blonde shrugged with an amused smile.

"We better get going too." Wannai-san said. "Maybe we can all meet up later?"

"Sure, drop us a text or call when you're done and see if we can work something out." Naru-san replied easily.

"Sounds like a plan." Konori-sempai chimed in. "But for now, I think we need to get moving. See you girls later."

With that she escorted her two Judgement subordinates away.

"Bye Febrie!" Awatsuki-san said with a smile to the little girl, while Kongou-san and Wannai-san waved.

"Bye-bye!" Febrie waved happily.

"Ugh. She's just met them and she already likes them more than me." Mikoto-sempai grumbled, as she too waved farewell to their three acquaintances.

Ruiko almost, _almost_ , felt sorry for their Sempai.

* * *

With only the Chibi and Saten-chan around, Mikoto realized that this was her chance to _finally_ win over Febrie's trust. Surely with less distractions around she'd have a better chance, right? That those distractions included the one person who the girl had latched onto as her mother figure and the other just seemed to have a way with kids was something that Mikoto did her best to ignore.

 _At the very least, I've gotta get that pink Gekota puppet back!_

Determined to at least win some kind of favor with the little tyke, Mikoto's resolve could never be higher!

"Ne, Febrie," Mikoto said, catching the adorable girl's attention. "You know that Gekota I gave you?'

The girl nodded, pulling it out of her pocket and putting it on.

"Well, how would you like to trade it for two instead?" Mikoto showed off a green and a white variant of the puppet. "How about it?"

"No." Febrie pouted and played with the finger puppet and her new helmet.

A snort was heard and Mikoto turned to glare at an innocently whistling Usagi.

"Then how about three instead? I've got a black one too!" Mikoto cajoled.

"No." Febrie insisted, turning to look at Saten-chan. "Ruiko-nee can I get a gun too?"

"What? Well, I don't know…" Saten-chan scrunched her brow in thought.

 _You can't seriously be thinking about it?!_ Mikoto shouted in her mind.

"Come on, we'll get her a nifty taser. Oh! Maybe one in a teddy bear. The perfect disguise." Namikaze chimed in.

"Do they have mock ups of that this year?" Saten-chan asked curiously.

"Oh, they have a _lot_ of them. I saw a cotton candy machine that doubled as a rocket launcher."

"You can't be serious!" Mikoto said incredulously.

"I totally am! It was a sugary nightmare."

"Chicken Gums must be displaying their deliberately hilarious impractical weapons again this year." Saten-chan mused. "They do it just to prove it's possible from an engineering standpoint. Still stupid, but effective at making their point."

"Cool looking though, I'm sure Febrie would love one of their gizmos for a toy. Wouldn't you Febrie?"

"Pew pew, please?" Febrie blinked her large amethyst eyes at the two.

Saten-chan folded immediately. "A-Alright. But only one and a mock up, okay?"

"Yay!" Febrie cheered.

"Let's go pick one out." The devilish older blonde said. "We can leave Febrie with Sempai for a bit."

Saten-chan looked uncertain but agreed. "Okay. Be nice to Misaka-nee, okay Febrie?"

"'Kay~!" The girl replied easily.

Still visibly reluctant Saten-chan was dragged off by an eager Namikaze who began chatting about what they'd find at the Chicken Gums display.

"They slap a gun on everything these days, don't they? No finesse or class anymore."

"I know. If only they applied themselves better."

"Right?!"

 _Why am I the only normal one in this group?_ Mikoto wondered to herself as she looked down at Febrie. The small blonde was wiggling her finger happily, making little 'pew pew' noises.

"Good luck, Sempai. And take care of Febrie. Or else." Saten-chan's voice whispered into Mikoto's ears out of nowhere, causing her to jump and spin around to see the aforementioned girl a good distance away and still deep in conversation with the Chibi.

 _She set this up? That's nice of her._ Mikoto mused, with a smile though it soon faded. _But really she needs to learn to stop with the creepiness. I mean, seriously! Whispering into people's ears from a distance? How isn't that straight out of a horror movie? I bet the Chibi put her up to it._

Blaming the Chibi for all her misfortune, something she had been doing a lot lately, Mikoto decided to try a new approach in talking with the child.

"You really like Gekota, huh?" The chestnut haired girl smiled.

"Mmhm." Febrie said, her eyes still glued to her toy.

Humming, Mikoto said, "How about you, me, and Saten-chan head to my place later? I have all kinds of Gekota stuff."

Febrie graciously offered her a curious glance and asked. "What kind of stuff?"

"Toys, books, clothes, and more little figures. Hehe, I've got the entire Gekota rainbow family!"

Febrie looked at her empty fingers. "Family?"

Mikoto nodded and held up both her hands. Each finger minus one was wearing a puppet. There was a whole array Gekota in multiple colors.

"Hellow, Febrie~!" The middle schooler said in a silly voice while wiggling her fingers.

"Gekotas!" Febrie said in awe as she tried to follow all of them at once. She reached up, trying to grab them all, but Mikoto pulled them away on instinct.

"H-Hey, take it easy. I can't just hand these over."

Febrie let out a sniffle and looked almost ready to cry.

"Ah! Please don't cry, um, I, let's see…" She looked around frantically until she spotted some vending machines nearby.

"I know! How about I get you a drink?" Mikoto said finally, having exhausted all the ways she could think of to win over the little girl.

Febrie rubbed her eyes, "Chocolate milk?"

"Sure. Just wait here for a bit and I'll go buy you a can, okay?"

"Hmph." The blonde agreed with a nod.

Forcing a smile, she turned to go get them some drinks.

She had just pulling the cans out of the machine when she heard Febrie suddenly call out "Gekota!" loudly.

"Febrie?" Mikoto asked, turning around to check on the girl only to find no sign of her.

"Febrie!?" The [Railgun] called out, growing anxious. "Where are you?"

She received no response and cold sweat began to run down her back.

 _Saten-chan is going to kill me. Oh damn._ The middle schooler thought as she frantically began to search the area for the missing child.

She searched everywhere, Under benches, behind trash cans and vending machines, in dark alleys and every conceivable place that a child Febrie's size could fit.

"...I've really lost her. Please don't kill me," Mikoto grimaced as she pulled out her phone. She dialed the Number 3. "Please, please don't kill me."

* * *

"So I'm thinking. Why didn't we get her that tiny bazooka that shoots confetti?" Naru-san asked her, "It would have been perfect for her." She had stars in her eyes as she gushed over Febrie, while they walked back after picking up a mock up MP5 for the young blonde.

Ruiko could commiserate. The little girl was absolutely adorable and had charmed her way into her heart despite the short amount of time they had known each other.

"I think we should start small."

"A submachine gun is starting small?"

"It's not a railgun or gauss rifle," Ruiko pointed out.

"Point." Naru-san conceded as Ruiko's phone rang. "Though I'd have thought you were more a laser or particle cannon kinda girl."

"I am, but until the City figures out how to make them man-portable the former are just easier to carry." She countered and picked up the phone. "Yes, Sempai?"

A dark expression crossed the brunette's face as she heard what the older girl had to say.

"I'm sorry. You _what_?" Ruiko hissed into the phone.

"I'm sorry." The Number 5 begged, as they walked around the corner and back into the rest area where they'd left the chestnut haired girl and Febrie. A currently visibly missing Febrie.

"Sempai messed up?" Naru-san asked, a twinge of mirth and exasperation filled her tone.

"N-Not on purpose!" The [Railgun] snapped, her cheeks burning red as she nervously shuffled her feet.

"You _lost_ Febrie!" Ruiko hissed so coldly, her breath came out in a cloud of mist. Though that might have just been her powers reacting to her mood and calling on some thermokinesis.

"Easy mother hen, let's concentrate on finding her." Naru-san said as she walked forward to try and calm her down.

"Exactly!" Mikoto-Sempai nodded.

"Then we bash on Sempai."

"Yeah, exac-Oi!" The chestnut haired girl pouted.

Ruiko ignored the two as she concentrated on linking to all the security cameras in the general area. Febrie couldn't have gotten too far.

"She's tiny. Unless someone took her, she should still be nearby."

Ruiko turned to Naru with a worried frown, which for some reason caused Mikoto-sempai to gasp. "Kidnapped?"

"Don't do that! Tilting your head like that is freaky!" A pale faced Naru protested. "It's like something out of a horror movie."

Ruiko frowned, but soon let out a gasp of her own as she located her charge. "No!"

The Number 3 teleported away leaving her fellow Trinity members to stand there dumbstruck.

* * *

Naru probably should have panicked, Ruiko-chan's panicked voice was quite concerning after all. However, the other girl was so paranoid when it came to people that she cared for that she really didn't feel the need.

 _For all we know, she just tripped and got a bruise._

Mikoto-sempai however didn't seem to agree and instead was sweating bullets.

"Where did she go? Is Febrie alright?" The older girl rambled worriedly.

"I'm not a telepath. Ugh, that dummy could have at least told us where to find her." Naru sighed as she took a deep breath and concentrated. Enhancing her sense of smell with a little chakra, she attempted to pick on Ruiko-chan's scent.

It was a strange mix of the floral scents of her bath products, her natural scent that Naru had always found unnatural for how controlled it was due to how strictly she used her powers to regulate her body and the perpetually changing component that she seemed to unconsciously produce.

As it always did when Ruiko-chan switched powers, her scent changed. This time it went from a earthy smell to one that reminded her of fresh water. It had perplexed the blonde why this was the case for quite a while but she reasoned that when Ruiko-chan was emulating different AIM fields, thus powers, her body also reacted by emulating other aspects of the people she originally copied it from. It implied disturbing things about Ruiko-chan's ability emulation, but then again what about it wasn't disturbing.

 _Honestly, can't she just use one power right now? Talk about making it a pain to track._

 ** _Distracting yourself from the real problem with the issue?_** The kyuubi sealed in her soul commented.

 _No, just focusing on the more immediate problem. Besides, the problem with her powers is something that she's working on. It's handled._

 ** _Is it? Well, if you say so._** The demon said as it returned to its nap.

"Come on, this way!" Naru said as she started running as she followed Ruiko-chan's scent trail.

"Alright!"

Running out of the courtyard, the duo raced through the labyrinthine passageways of the university campus as they made their winding way to a distant courtyard.

There stood Ruiko-chan, a wild look in her eyes as Febrie clung to her hip. Around them was the wreckage of a dozen security robots. They were shredded, snapped, torn apart, melted into slag and just plain destroyed in a circle around a nearly snarling mama bear that was the brunette.

"Oi! Ruiko-chan! Febrie-chan!" Naru ran forward, dancing around the wreckage. Their Sempai right behind her. "Are you guys okay? Anyone hurt?"

Shaking her head, Ruiko-chan said. "We're fine. The robots were being controlled. It was some rare ability called Diffusion Ghost, though… it was at a Level I've never seen before."

Worried frowns crossed her fellow Tokiwadai students as Ruiko-chan continued.

"I tried to rein it in, but it proved resistant when I tried. It, it is an AIM based power. I should have been able to take control of it easily." The [AIM Sovereign] bit her bottom lip. "To resist me is something only high-level Espers can manage."

The blonde stepped close and asked. "How high are we talking?"

"I think… there is a new Level 5 involved."

"That's not possible." Mikoto-sempai said, "If there was another Level 5, the City would have announced it. Even if they were from the Dark Side. Anyone would want to boast that they managed to create a Level 5."

"I dunno. If their Level 5 can't live long…" Naru said uncertainly as she eyed Febrie's omnipresent bag of lollipops. "And if they just want her to pull off just one big stunt, I could see plenty of people keeping it quiet."

"Then again, we might just be jumping to conclusions." Ruiko-chan said at last. "There's no guarantee this is really the work of a Level 5 at this point."

"You couldn't control it." Naru bluntly told her, making the brunette flinch a little. "Prepare for the worst, hope for the best."

The girls looked at each other, silently agreeing to protect the young blonde child.

"We'll watch out for her." Mikoto-sempai said with resolve, a fire in her eyes. "No one is going to die this time."

Sharing a look with Ruiko-chan, Naru sent her a worried frown. One that her fellow first year returned in kind.

* * *

A couple hours later, the group of friends sans Konori-sempai who had to stay behind with her fellow senior Judgement agents for further meetings were on the way home. The Trinity had spent the walk to the light rail station they needed to use to head back to their dorms updating Uiharu-san and Kuroko about the attack on Febrie.

It had left the little girl shaken. So much so that Febrie was cuddling her toy MP5 and nervously sticking close to Saten-chan to the point she was literally hiding under her skirt.

"Why would anyone with control of a Level 5 want to hurt Febrie-chan?" Uiharu asked, confused by the current turn of events.

"Perhaps she was a witness to something that they want to keep quiet?" Kuroko suggested.

"Febrie?" Saten-chan asked her limpet.

The little girl just shook her head, her helmet rattling.

"What if she's linked to the experiment?" The Usagi asked aloud, a pensive look on her face. "What's her power, Ruiko-chan?"

Saten-chan looked at the young girl, frowning as she said. "I'm not sure. I don't think she has one yet."

They were just passing by a construction site on the edge of the campus when Saten-chan and the Usagi suddenly paused. As one they turned to look into the half-built building as a strange robot thing stalked out of it.

"What is that?" Uiharu asked as she edged behind Saten-chan.

"A custom Powered Suit, I think."

Mikoto wasn't surprised by Kuroko's confusion. The dark purple Suit was unlike anything that she had seen before. It had a head that looked liked a stylized knightly helm, oversized rounded pauldrons with purple orbs embedded in the shoulders and similarly forearms that ended in hands that seemed to lack fingers.

Raising it's right arm towards Febrie revealed that in place of its missing fingers there were several nozzles. It was from one of these that with a sudden burst of steam, a jet of silver liquid shot out and flew towards the girls like a bullet.

Reacting quickly, Mikoto used her powers and sent an electric blast at the projectile. The liquid splattered but quickly reeled back into the nozzles it was connected to. "It's shooting mercury! I can't control it!"

Glaring at the Suit, Mikoto decided to go another route and attempted to hack its systems. Sadly, she couldn't sense any electronics within it.

 _Dammit._ She thought and dodged out of the way of a mercury whip.

"It won't work!" Saten-chan shouted. "I'm familiar with this model, it runs on mercury based hydraulics and doesn't have electronics or magnetic parts."

"Who did I piss off?!" Mikoto shouted as it felt like this thing was meant to fight her.

"Later! Kill it first." Namikaze said as she rushed forward to engage the Suit in close combat. "Ruiko-chan handle defense!"

Saten-chan just nodded, even as Kuroko slipped her hands under her skirt to touch the nails she hid on a belt she'd tied to her thighs. Even Febrie was getting into the action as she peeked out from behind Saten-chan to point her toy gun at the Suit.

"Pew pew!"

 _Okay, we're terrible role models._ Mikoto thought to herself in resignation. _Maybe Konori-sempai can help teach her not to follow our example? Oh right… Former Skill-Out… Why don't we have any good role models as friends!?_

Mikoto was distracted from the depressing turn her thoughts had taken when she noticed that despite the Teleporter's nails cleanly scoring hits, the Suit seemed unaffected.

"My nails aren't working?" Kuroko exclaimed in confusion as she Teleported out of the way of being crushed by a mercury flail.

"You're aiming to incapacitate a pilot!" Saten-chan called out. "It's unmanned!"

"How the heck is it even able to fight this well then?" Namikaze asked as she evaded a whip of mercury that the Suit was using to keep her at bay.

"It's like a video game to the one controlling it." Mikoto reasoned as she sent an electric blast at the Power Suit.

It's other arm raised and a shield of mercury blocked but it was nevertheless pushed back by the force of her attack. That however did not stop it from retaliating and Mikoto was forced to duck as four spears of the liquid metal tried to skewer her.

Finishing deploying a veritable bunker's worth of barriers, Saten-chan finally deigned to give an answer.

"It's being controlled by Diffusion Ghost just like those security robots were." The [AIM Sovereign] said. "So go wild!"

"I'd love to, but look where we are!" Mikoto scolded her Kohai. If she even attempted a railgun here who knew what damage she could do let alone what hazards could be sent fly by the blast and possibly injure someone in the vicinity.

"Right, then be careful." Saten-chan shouted in frustration. "Just break out bigger guns and put it down. Now! I'm trying to disrupt the Diffusion Ghost but it's proving resistant. Again."

Kuroko attempted to pin it down with her nails by taking out its joints. Sadly, the bulk of the Powered Suit meant her attack was insufficient to do any appreciable damage.

"Gah, I don't know enough about its inner workings. I'm out of nails and I've achieved nothing." The tawny haired girl frowned as she retreated behind Saten-chan's defense.

Namikaze ran forward, unleashing a kick that sent the Powered Suit skidding back. When the blonde attempted a follow-up attack however, the Powered Suit swung at her with two maces attached to its arms.

She ducked under the first swing but was forced to jump back to avoid the second.

"Take this!" The Usagi cried out as she closed once more with a kick. One mace shifted into a shield to absorb the blow but the sheer force behind it made the shield shatter and caused the enemy to stumble back.

Again, the blonde tried to capitalize on the opening but as she closed the Suit raised one of its arms up and fired a mercury javelin at her.

The unexpected change in tactics caught Namikaze by surprise and she barely dodged the javelin, leaving a tear in her sweater vest as proof of the close shave. Hissing in anger at her failure to destroy the clearly inferior foe, the Number 2 made some distance between the Powered Suit to regroup.

"Tch, you're really pissing me off."

"Namikaze! Switch!" Mikoto shouted as she pulled a length of iron sand from the ground. It formed into a large whip.

The blonde nodded and Teleported away as Mikoto swung wide.

The iron sand whip sliced through several street lights on its way to strike the Powered Suit. When it did, it left a deep gorge along its chassis. Mercury dripped from the found, but it quickly hardened and closed up the hole.

"What the hell?" Mikoto gasped as the wound closed.

"The mercury is acting like its blood." Uiharu-san commented with shocked disgust.

"Don't stand down, Baka-Sempai!" The Usagi shouted as she Teleported in to engage the Suit only to be forced back as the Suit shot a javelin at her before slamming its arms into the ground.

The sight had her hairs on the back of Mikoto's neck stand on end and she couldn't help it as she shouted out a warning. "Look out!"

At her cry, the ground exploded as a forest of mercury spikes protruded from it. The spikes attempting to impale the girls combatting the machine.

Mikoto leapt up high and felt a hand grab her shoulder. She appeared on the top of the half-constructed building with Kuroko by her side. Namikaze had Teleported nearby and was floating in the air. She was sporting a few cuts but they were already healing rapidly.

Looking over at the others, Mikoto noted that Saten-chan had been caught off guard by the Suit's unexpected attack too and had been forced to teleport Uiharu-san, Febrie and herself to a new safe location where she was busily building a new bunker. She was so distracted ensuring their safety that she seemed to miss how Febrie looked distressed and was looking in all directions seemingly trying to find something.

 _Did she drop something when Saten-chan teleported them?_

Mikoto could imagine something falling out of the girl's pocket or pouch in the rush of Saten-chan pulling them close for a hasty teleport to safety.

The little girl's face lit up as she spotted what she looking for, which from her distance Mikoto could only barely make out as being the Gekota finger puppet the girl had stolen from her.

"Febrie, don't!" The [Railgun] warned the girl, catching everyone's attention.

It was too late though as the little blonde ran from the Number 3's side and through a gap in the still forming matrix of barriers, right into the sights of the hostile Powered Suit which aimed one of its arms right at her.

Mikoto used her electromagnetism to propel herself off the building at high speed in a desperate lunge to pull the girl out of the way, bypassing the stunned and slow to react Kuroko's teleportation. Next to her Namikaze teleported, but the idiot gunned for the Suit rather than Febrie.

The Number 2 sent the thing flying with a solid kick but whoever was controlling it seemed to have learned its lesson and used its mercury to create a whip that it wrapped around a beam of the unfinished building. The beam sagged under its weight, but it served its purpose as the Suit used this grip to swing itself like some scifi Tarzan in Febrie's direction.

Namikaze landed on the ground, and twisted around, looking befuddled at this strange move.

Thankfully Mikoto wasn't as easily distracted. Landing roughly on her feet, she tumbled but quickly righted herself barely noticing the Suit's unorthodox move even as she sprinted full tilt towards Febrie. She reached the girl and pulled her, Gekota in hand, into a protective hug even as the Suit landed ominously behind them with its mace equipped arms raised to smash them.

The Second Year middle schooler held Febrie tighter and glared at the Suit even as she used her electromagnetism to create a last ditch protective shell around them. Febrie too looked up at the machine, but with fear and strangely enough recognition?

"Janie?" The girl whispered out in shocked confusion.

Suddenly, mid-motion and with its maces inches away from contact the Suit froze.

A gust of wind rushed over them as a steel beam shot like a missile and struck the stunned Powered Suit. The impact sent it flying where it was shortly hit by a swirling ball of chakra that tore it to pieces and a monstrously large energy beam that disintegrated most of the remaining wreckage.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish! Should have just obliterated it from the get go." Namikaze said as she glared at the red hot remains of their enemy, before turning to look behind Mikoto. "Kongou-chan, nice save!"

Mikoto followed her gaze and found that indeed there stood Kongou Mitsuko, snapping her fan closed with a pleased look on her face.

"But of course! Though, um, not to be rude… but what was going on here?" The heiress asked.

Namikaze stepped up to handle the explanations, but Mikoto was more concerned with the little girl in her arms. "Are you alright, Febrie?"

The young blonde gave a weak smile as she pushed her helmet up. "Thank you, Mikoto-nee." With that, the girl gave her a big hug with her tiny arms.

Something was seriously wrong though, as the girl's body felt like it was a raging inferno and she sagged against her body moments later.

"Febrie? Febrie!" Mikoto shouted. "W-Where's her bag? Saten-chan!"

The aforementioned Level 5 was already on the scene and had pressed a hand to the back of the blonde's head.

"Ruiko-chan, what's the problem?" Namikaze asked as she and Kongou-san ran up to them.

"It's not the poison." Saten-chan noted with a worried frown. "Her body just seems overtaxed with whatever Esper power she used earlier to interfere with Diffusion Ghost."

"I thought she didn't have a power?"

"Not an awakened one." Saten-chan said as she carefully extracted the girl from Mikoto's arms and into her own. "At least not before now."

"Let's get her to a secured facility." Namikaze said as she pulled out her phone. "I'm calling Heaven's Canceler. We need him for this."

"I'll teleport ahead." The Number 3 said before vanishing with the sickly girl secure in her arms.

"Roger."

Mikoto's hand clenched as she was wrought with worry.

"Febrie…"

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless as always!**

 **Hot damn, that didn't balloon, this chapter snowballed. Still, it felt wrong not to put the fight in. And I doubt you guys wanted a cliffhanger right? XP**

 **Nameless: Wow! Long chapter! Don't think we've done such a long one in a while. Well, hope you guys enjoy it. It's so long mainly because we didn't know where to cut it. There didn't seem a suitably climatic place before the fight at the end the chapter. We toyed with after Saten wrecked those security robots, but that immediately preceded the Powered Suit fight and we couldn't see it fitting into the next chapter quite as well.**

 **Personally, Febrie was a dream to write. She is so cute and now she's got a helmet and toy gun. Personally, I think she contributed the most in that fight from her pew pewing.**

 **Nameless: Lolz! Talking about the fight, you might be wondering why the heck the girls held back so damn much. The answer is pretty simple: Uiharu and Febrie were there. Neither girl has much combat experience or skill, if any. Pulling out the big guns with them around is risking them getting caught in the cross-fire or collateral damage. Combine that with the relatively low threat of the Suit and simple overconfidence led to the thing being more of a threat than it rightly should be.**

 **I think the sisterly instincts of the trio are just fantastic. And as for the Powered Suit, we kind of changed it up a bit since it was facing three Level 5s. It's one of the Alseides from Escaflowne. Thank you my DM for reminding me of that anime!**

 **Nameless: Hitomi Kanzaki rocks! One of the best non-fighter protagonists I've ever watched in an anime. Too many shows give in to the urge to make their leads combat badasses, but Escaflowne didn't and is better for it. Hmm… She reminds me of Uiharu in that way. A compelling character that isn't some kind of monster in a fight, but deadly in her own way.**

 **Alright, you folks know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Twenty Four: Assassins' Soirée**

 **Beta:**

* * *

Naru teleported into Heaven Canceller's Hospital's emergency room alongside Kongou-san and Sempai.

They found Febrie already loaded up onto a gurney and being pushed away for treatment while swarmed by medical staff. Ruiko-chan was standing to one side robotically informing a doctor everything she knew about her charge's condition even as her eyes traced the little girl's progress through the halls.

"Where's Heaven Canceller?" Naru demanded immediately. "I called ahead. He should be here!"

"Right here." The frog faced doctor said breathlessly as he came to a stop behind the group. "I had to run down from my office, give an old man a few minutes to catch his breath."

Naru looked at her favorite doctor and knew that now that he was here, Febrie was going to be okay. Her relief was visible to her friends, earning a surprised look from Kongou-chan. Unsurprising, since she was the only person here who had yet to see just how miraculous the man's skills were.

"Sorry, just… please help her, Sensei."

"Hmph, you know my motto young lady."

The pigtailed blonde smiled.

The doctor that Ruiko-chan was briefing waved his boss over, a relieved look on his face.

"This young lady has been briefing me on our patient's condition. I think it might be best you took over, I don't understand half the things she's told me." The doctor admitted sheepishly.

"Ah, that's good. I'll take over from here." The hospital director informed his subordinate with a reassuring smile, before taking the clipboard where the man had been taking notes and turning to Ruiko-chan. "Thank you Saten-kun. Anything you tell us will only serve to help your friend."

"Friend?" Kongou-chan whispered disbelievingly under her breath. "Is that all they are?"

Naru nudged her and placed a finger to her lips and winked.

She totally agreed that Ruiko-chan was seeing little Febrie as a lot more than a simple friend.

 _ **Daughter seems more fitting considering the things she's feeling.**_ Kurama commented, a strangely sympathetic tone to his voice.

 _Wow. I could never picture Ruiko-chan as a mama so young. And now the thought of a creepy Accel baby in her has entered my mind. Ew, ew, ew._

 _ **Age doesn't matter as much as you humans so often like to think.**_

 _If you say so, fuzzy grampa._

With an annoyed grunt at the name calling, the tailed beast retreated back into the corners of her soul. Naru sensed that he remained watchful however, and oddly enough worried as well. Almost fearful. Part of it seemed like, shockingly enough, genuine concern for the smaller blonde, but a big part of it seemed like he was just afraid that something might happen to Febrie and Ruiko-chan would lose it, unleashing all hell in the process.

 _He's not wrong._

Unaware of her mental conversation with her tenant, Kongou-chan nodded and obediently agreed to keep quiet about Ruiko-chan's feelings towards Febrie. "Oh, o-of course. I will go secure us some seats. Hopefully it's properly furnished here."

Naru walked over to her Sempai and tapped her shoulder. "Come on, no use just standing here. Let's grab some snacks. I'm sure everyone's hungry."

"Do you always think with your stomach?" The tsundere huffed.

Naru shrugged cutely. "Not always."

* * *

An hour later, Uiharu-san and Shirai-san finally arrived after dealing with Anti-Skill's response to the latest attack by the Powered Suit. They immediately began comparing notes.

"So this makes it certain someone is out to hurt Febrie-chan." Uiharu-san said, a out of character but yet still fitting look of murderous intent in her eyes. "Someone whose computers I will very much like to introduce to my virus vault."

"Dream of their destruction later," Shirai-san urged. "Right now, we need to figure out who they are."

"What did Anti-Skill say?" Namikaze-san asked as she sipped from a juice pack. Mitsuko thought that perhaps the Level 5 was a stress eater. That was the only reason she could conceive for how the diminutive blonde had managed to devour all the snacks she had bought them.

"That they are currently investigating the incidents and were comparing notes with Judgement about any other unusual anomalies." Shirai-san stated.

Namikaze-san actually squeezed the juice pack, popping it, causing its contents to shoot up and splatter the ceiling. "That's just them saying they have no clue right now. Fantastic. If they want to wait for another Incident then fine, but we're not. Right?"

Her question came off as a demand and everyone was already nodding in agreement. Even Mitsuko found herself nodding along.

"That Powered Suit-"

"What about it?"

"I recognized it." Saten-san stated, looking deep in thought. "It was part of a project that I worked on for the City."

"Let me guess," Misaka-san said with a huff. "The one about developing countermeasures to suppress me should the need arrive. The same one where you built them that special Dark Matter prison you used the last time."

Saten-san fidgeted nervously and nodded. Strangely, Namaikaze-san looked flustered too for some reason.

 _There's a story there, but one that I don't think I want to know._ Mitsuko thought and held her tongue. She felt like an outsider right now, despite her cordial relationship with the exalted Level 5s of Tokiwadai.

"So if you recognized it, any hope that it can give us some clues?" Shirai-san asked.

"A few. But I'll need to confirm some things first before I can share any details."

"Confidentiality?" Namikaze-san asked knowingly.

Saten-san just nodded, though there was an angry gleam in her eyes. Understandably, it had been there since the attack but it had gotten quite a bit more intense ever since she started talking about what she knew about the Powered Suit.

 _Why though?_ Mitsuko thought to herself, even as she prepared to divert the topic to something hopefully slightly less triggering for the volatile Number 3. _And who'd have thought the Level 5 called [The Robot] would be the most emotional member of the Trinity?_

"Actually, there was something I wished to discuss with you all." Mitsuko brought up with a raised hand.

"What's up, Kongou-chan?" Namikaze-san cocked her head to the side, looking very curious. With all the attention on her, Mitsuko instinctively snapped her fan open to cover her blush.

"I had been trying to contact you after we parted back at the Assembly grounds. I encountered a suspicious man making a phone call. Now, normally I wouldn't eavesdrop, but Awatsuki-san, Wannai-san, and I had overheard him talk about 'reclaiming' little Febrie-chan. Naturally, we grew worried and separated to find you since Awatsuki-san could not get in touch with Namikaze-san for some reason."

"Huh? Why?"

"Phone signals were jammed for a brief time back at the Assembly." Saten-san informed them.

"The Suit had a jammer? Ugh, I hate Powered Suits. So annoying."

"No, it seems the Suit's controller had enough pull to just have the local relay tower shut down."

"...And that's worse. Damn." The petite blonde frowned.

"Is every authority in this City corrupt?" Shirai-san asked, her tone full of righteous anger.

Saten-san and Namikaze-san exchanged a look before shrugging.

"Pretty much?" The brunette said.

"Nine tenths of the time?" The blonde offered her own input.

"You say it so dispassionately." Shirai-san's shoulders sagged.

"Cheer up, Shirai-san. At least this means you'll be busy when you join Anti-Skill. Fighting the corruption will take a long time I bet." Uiharu-san offered half-heartedly.

"Ugh!" The Teleporter grunted in disgust and flopped back into her seat.

Mitsuko was about to chide her for her lack of manners when her phone rang. Sending everyone an apologetic smile, she walked a short distance away to answer her call.

"Yes? Wannai-san?" Mitsuko asked.

" _Kongou-san, did you find them?"_

"Yes, I did. We are actually at Heaven Canceller's Hospital. While we faced some problems, we are all safe."

" _Thank goodness! We'll be right over."_

"Yes. We'll be here and be careful." Mitsuko instructed. She didn't want something to happen to her friends.

" _Of course."_ With that, Wannai-san hung up and Mitsuko did the same. Seeing the eyes on her, she explained.

"Wannai-san and Akatsuki-san are coming over."

Namikaze-san smiled at that. "Yeah, having all of us here should be good for everyone."

Mitsuko greatly agreed.

"So you said that the suspicious man said he wanted to 'reclaim' Febrie?" Misaka-san frowned, her hands balled into shaking fists. "They were talking about her like she's an object?"

"That's what I felt when I heard him saying it as well." Mitsuko agreed, a frown marring her face. "It was completely unacceptable. If I wasn't so worried for Febrie-chan I would have given him a piece of my mind."

* * *

Twenty minutes after their conversation, Wannai-chan and Akatsuki-chan arrived and the friends quickly briefed them on what had happened. The two school swimmers were horrified by what happened and disgusted at the threat posed to Febrie. It was this threat that prompted the Trinity, Uiharu-chan and Shirai-chan to decide to stay overnight at the hospital to ensure the little blonde's safety.

The swimmers and Kongou-chan had plans the next day and so couldn't join them. They had however helped out by agreeing to visit their dorms and bringing them some changes of clothes and other necessities.

The heiress even brought a fresh dress for Febrie when she woke up. It was a fine looking white gothic lolita dress with black ribbons on it. Naru had to admit it was cute and fit Febrie's style perfectly. Leave it to Kongou-chan to have such a fashionable eye.

The hospital didn't exactly have anywhere for them to sleep besides some comfortable chairs. Thankfully though they had Ruiko-chan who had access to the power to create Dark Matter, something which she used quite liberally to create a set of rather comfortable camp beds that the hospital staff allowed the girls to lay out in the rest area nearest to Febrie's room. As such, they had a surprisingly comfortable night.

It was in the middle of the night that Naru woke up in a jolt. Her eyes snapped wide open and her senses went on high alert as she glanced around trying to pinpoint what had woke her up.

 _ **I just sensed some chakra being used. And it wasn't us.**_

"Now?" She whispered and quietly slid off her cot. She started to sneak off when a drowsy yawn halted her steps.

"What's wrong?" A tired Mikoto-Sempai asked, rubbing her eyes with her hand. "Toilet?"

Naru, flushing pink, gave her a look.

"No shame in needing to go to the ladies room." The Electromaster muttered before drifting back to sleep.

Ruiko-chan just turned to look at her with a suspicious glance. Unlike the others, she wasn't anywhere near the cot that she'd chosen and was instead sitting on one of the hospital chairs facing down the hall towards Febrie's room.

"Did you even sleep?"

"Go. I'll keep watch and act as your support."

Nodding wordlessly, Naru headed off, following Kurama's directions towards the source of the unaccounted for chakra.

"I'm going to skin them for this. Seriously, they have the worst timing."

It didn't take long before she found her prey. Going down a hallway, she spotted them. A squad of four Shinobi. Three men and one woman. Unfortunately they spotted her in turn and immediately scattered like the cockroaches they were.

"Shit." She cursed and pursued.

One of them was midrun when the space in the hallway he'd fled down abruptly distorted, causing him to crash into a wall head first. Before he could even see stars, Naru teleported right next to him. Without any hesitation, she used a conjured dagger of chakra to slit his throat.

"Thanks for the assist, Ruiko-chan." The Number 2 said with a smile, as she pushed the dying man to the ground and used a chakra enhanced foot to stamp his head flat.

A disembodied giggle whispered in her ear.

Shivers running down her back, Naru pouted. "Never do that again. It's really creepy!"

" _Ah, sorry."_ Ruiko-chan's disembodied voice told her.

"Ah, Misaka says as she finally found Naru-sama." A monotone version of her Sempai's voice said as the blonde turned to see what she could only assume was one of the Sisters jog up to her. "Greetings to you, Misaka says with a polite bow."

"What are you doing here?" Naru asked, confused.

"Several of the Sisters are undergoing their physiotherapy at Heaven's Canceller's Hospital says Misaka in a dutiful tone. We are obliged to aid in its defense, Misaka states with a salute."

"Umm, sure. So how can you help?"

"We can scout ahead, Misaka offers. We are patients here and can move about discreetly."

Nodding, Naru could hardly refuse the help. With the hospital full of vulnerable civilians that both made it impossible for her to go all out and could also be used as human shields, she needed all the help she could get.

"And you can do that better than Ruiko-chan?"

" _Let them help. The shinobi don't use AIM fields, that will make it hard for me to track them especially with their exceptional skill at stealth."_ Ruiko-chan's voice resounded in the quiet of the hall. " _Their help might be invaluable."_

"Agreed. This is an excellent use of our skills, says Misaka as she nods. We will go recruit Onee-sama to join us as well, Misaka says with a determined expression."

The Sister's expression hadn't changed at all and Naru asked. "What do you mean recruit?"

* * *

Ruiko, who was sitting in one of the lounge chairs, watched as another Sister walked into their little area. The clone stalked right up to her progenitor with a water bottle in her hand. Without any warning, she proceeded to dump the contents right over Sempai's face and quickly backed away.

"Gah?! What the-! H-Huh? What are you doing here? Why did you dump water on me?!"

"Shh, Misaka says as Onee-sama is as loud as a train."

As if to prove this point, Shirai-san sleepily pushed herself up to a sitting position.

"Uh-oh, says Misaka as she watches the predator awaken."

"Onee-sama? Two Onee-samas?" The tawny haired girl said as she rubbed her eyes in shock. "My dreams have come true! Onee-samas, take me now!"

"What are you saying you weirdo?!" Mikoto-sempai squealed with her face the color of vermillion and she unleashed an electric shock that turned Shirai-san into a lump of black coal.

With blood trickling down her nose, the Teleporter released a giggle as she passed out in a heap.

The whole scene was as amusing as she'd expected, it had been noisy though and Uiharu needed her rest. As such, Ruiko was glad that she'd had the foresight to put up a sound negating barrier around her best friend to ensure her sleep wasn't interrupted. At least one of them deserved a good night's rest.

The perverse Teleporter? Not so much.

"Onee-sama, there are villainous shinobi in the hospital, says Misaka with a serious tone." The Sister said in her standard monotone voice. "We must assemble together to defeat them, says Misaka as motivationally as possible. We will track them for the team, Misaka says confidently."

"Team? Eh?"

Mikoto-sempai looked at her expectantly.

"They know how to work around me." Ruiko admitted.

"The other Sisters are prepared to work as scouts and root out the villains, says Misaka with stars in her eyes and a firm nod."

Her Sempai just turned to look at her for a translation.

" _They can use low intensity pulses in morse code to communicate."_ Naru-san's disembodied voice whispered around the area.

"So you didn't have to use the toilet." Mikoto-sempai accused.

" _Focus Baka-Sempai!"_

"Fine. I'm still not caught up on things, but I guess it could work?" The [Railgun] said uncertainty. "Just be careful with those EM pulses, we don't want to destroy any of the sensitive hospital equipment."

"We could use Onee-sama as a receiver for the rest of the Trinity, says Misaka before she starts to drag Onee-sama to save the day."

"H-Hey! I can walk! Hey!" Mikoto-Sempai cried out as the Sister dragged her progenitor out of her cot.

She sent Ruiko a pleading look. Smirking, the Number 3 just shook her head and pointed first to Uiharu and Shirai-san then towards Febrie's room. "I'll play defense."

"You always play defense," Sempai angrily grumbled as she stalked off with her clone.

Ruiko shrugged. "I'm the best at it. Give them hell, Sempai."

* * *

 _Stupid Saten-chan, stupid Shinobi, stupid Sisters, stupid… stupid something else!_ Mikoto griped miserably in the privacy of her own mind as she followed her clone down the labyrinthine hallways of the hospital.

 _I wonder what these ninja wannabes want with Febrie? Don't they know messing with her is tempting the wrath of a mama bear Number 3?_ The electromaster mused in amusement, though that quickly turned to concern. _Talking about that… Is Saten-chan getting so attached so quickly another symptom of her relationship obsessive–compulsive disorder? And if it is, is there anything I can do about it?_

"Naru-sama is just around the corner, Misaka explains hastily." Her clone said suddenly as she pointed down the corridor to the right at a T junction. "Misaka will leave Onee-sama now to begin hunting the villains, Misaka said with enthusiasm and a cool action pose."

Still a little rattled by the way her clone was talking and the whole situation in general, Mikoto just nodded slowly.

This seemed to please the clone immensely as it offered a wooden smile worthy of Saten-chan at her height of being [The Robot] before she ran off down the corridor to the left.

 _I'm so teaching them to smile properly when this is all over._ Mikoto promised herself with a frown as she followed her clone's directions.

Just like she said, the path eventually reached a corner and as she rounded it, she saw Namikaze waiting for her.

"So where are they?" The blonde asked impatiently the moment she spotted her.

"The Sisters are looking." Mikoto told her. "Why isn't one of them with you? They weren't serious when they asked me to be the 'receiver' for their little morse code network, right?"

"Sorry to tell you, Sempai, but yeah they were. We're kinda shorthanded here, they're all playing scouts right now."

Mikoto grumbled a little at that. She hated being reduced to being little more than a walking radio.

"Why do they need to go to all the trouble with that anyways? Don't they have phones?"

Namikaze just shot her a unamused look. "They're a bunch of clones with nothing to their name except the clothes on their backs, do you really think they have the money for phones?"

"Oh." The second year middle schooler said, embarrassed that she hadn't thought of that.

The Usagi sighed in disappointment for a moment, before she turned sober and looked at her with a serious look. "Alright, forget about all that for a moment. There's something I want to say. I know your iffy on just ending your opponent, but do not give these guys an inch."

Mikoto tightened her hands, but nodded in understanding. "I'll do my best."

The examining look the blonde sent her was unsettling. Mikoto was about to say more to assure her Kohai, but a small buzzing sensation passed through her.

 _Onee-sama. One Shinobi. Heading labs. Over._ The message from one of the Sisters came in a series of EM pulses.

"One's heading to the labs." Mikoto relayed the information.

With a feral grin on her face, Namikaze declared. "It's time for some murder."

The [Railgun] bopped her on the head, earning a yelp from the Chibi. "Don't call it that."

"Fine… time for a playdate."

"...T-That's makes it even worse."

 _Why are my Kohai all insane?_ The Number 5 thought helplessly as she led the way towards the enemy. _And where can I find more sane friends?_

* * *

As they reached the lab, Naru halted her Sempai so they could peek in through the open doors. Doing so, they easily spotted their target. There seated in front of the main computer was one of the shinobi typing away, no doubt looking for something.

The shinobi suddenly froze, causing both girls to frown in confusion.

 _Has he found something?_

 _ **No, just the Saten girl proving how scary she can be.**_ The tailed beast sealed in her soul said in a terrified whisper.

Blood started to pour out of the man's nose like a fountain as he began babbling.

"Pri-primary ob-jective: Cap-ture specimen, codename Febrie, for vivisection and study for Project Ashi-garu."

 _Ashigaru? They were going to_ vivisect _Febrie to develop foot soldiers!?_ Naru thought to herself as her eyes bled red and anger flowed freely through her veins. _Over my dead body!_

"S-Secondary object-ive. Acquire as m-much data as possible on the specimen." The shinobi spasmed where he stood. "Stay out of my mind!"

He started clawing at his own head, pulling whole bunches of his hair out and began to scream senselessly. A sight that had Naru smirking, _You deserve it, you scum._

"Thank you Ruiko-chan." The blonde cracked her knuckles and was about to unleash her fury on this pathetic excuse for a human being who had the audacity to try and harm Febrie, but she was preempted. Before she could take more than a step toward her prey, a blast of electricity shocked the man and he crumpled to the ground.

Pouting, Naru looked over her shoulder. "What happened to no killing?"

Her Sempai rolled her eyes. "He's not dead. Just close to it. If he dies, then its his karma for being a murdering asshole."

"Hmph, whatever. Let me look him over just in case he has some kill switch."

She barely made another step however when she felt a large buildup of chakra.

 _ **Move!**_ Kurama screamed unnecessarily, as she was already in motion. Reacting as fast as her chakra enhanced reflexes allowed, she turned around and tackled Sempai to the ground even as she erected a shield around them both.

Despite her superhuman response time, she barely made it in time. Her shield had just managed to cover them fully when the fallen ninja's body exploded.

As the coast became clear, Naru dropped the shield and clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"Damn, those explosive tags. They're such a pain."

"What the hell. I didn't think they had a literal dead man switch." Mikoto-Sempai whispered in shock.

"You get used to it." Naru said with a sigh.

"How the hell long do you need to get used to something like this?"

"Too long." The blonde said with a growl. "Anyways, just be careful okay? They like to use these pieces of paper they call explosive tags to destroy evidence, including their bodies. From what I gathered, it's linked to their vitals somehow. So if they get too injured and if no one inputs some kind of code within a set time, the things go off."

"A code?" The electromaster noted thoughtfully.

"Don't even think about being able to crack it. Trying to figure it out is a real pain. Seriously, my team has been working on it for years and is still trying to make an algorithm to figure it out."

"Really?" The older girl asked skeptically. Naru wasn't surprised, most people tended to assume the shinobi were a bunch of idiot LARPers who wouldn't know the first thing about the modern world just because they were aping the style of the ninja from the Sengoku Jidai.

 _ **If only they knew.**_ The demon fox snorted derisively.

 _Yeah, betcha they'll shit themselves if they knew half the things that they can do. Or that they're technically from another wor-_

Her train of thought was interrupted when her Sempai released a gasp and grabbed Naru's hand.

"We need to go! Febrie's in trouble!"

A dark giggle crossed the blue eyed girl's lips. "Good luck to that idiot. Leave him to Ruiko-chan."

* * *

Ruiko just stood in front of Febrie's room, her arms crossed and glared at a female shinobi a hundred metres down the corridor.

There was a smirk on her face as she felt bloodlust surge through her veins as she looked forward to the opportunity to destroy this fool who thought she could harm Febrie. No one would hurt the little girl on her watch.

The kunoichi didn't seem to realize she was walking to her death however and was actually foolish enough to smirk as she raced through a long series of hand seals.

" _ **Doton: Doryūsō**_ (Earth Style: Falling Earth Spears)." She declared as she slammed her hands onto the floor.

In response, a forest of concrete spikes shot out of the ground, all aiming to skewer the Number 3.

However just as the spikes were inches from impaling her, they just melted into a swirling liquid mass that circled around her.

 _Did she honestly think that was enough?_

Reshaping the liquid mass into bullets, she snapped her fingers and shot them back at the kunoichi.

The attack should have reduced her enemy into a body riddled with holes, but all it produced was a shattered potted plant. An outcome that left a frown that marred her face.

 _That annoying spatial replacement technique. I can see why Naru-san complains about it._ Ruiko thought and released a gasp as she stumbled forward. Looking down, she discovered that a tanto had been stabbed through her back.

Staring at the blood staining her clothes around the wound, Ruiko started to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" The kunoichi asked, sounding smugly confused.

Instead of answering, Ruiko had her body light up in a blinding flash. The woman released a cry of pain as she was no doubt blinded by the searing light.

Teleporting behind the idiot ninja, her smirk just broadened as the brunette saw how her opponent was stumbling around drunkenly. Deciding to give the woman a clue, she leaned forward and tapped her shoulder.

Startled, the woman spun around.

Smiling brilliantly, Ruiko conjured an energy blade and casually used it to stab the kunoichi. The woman tried to raise some semblance of a guard but a little telekinesis kept her limbs locked in place and so she faced no resistance as she slid the blade right through the woman's heart.

"No one touches that girl." She hissed into the dying woman's ear.

The woman gave a rattling last breath and went still.

"Well, that was easy." Ruiko noted as she released her grip on the power she'd been using to deal with the fool.

As she did so, the corridor faded away from her field of vision to reveal that she was actually standing in a hallway some distance away from Febrie's room. Shaking her head, she used telekinesis to float the unconscious kunoichi's body to the far side of the room and conjured a set of Dark Matter chains to tie her up.

"Haa, it seems they're vulnerable to proper telepathy. Morons." Ruiko said. With an enemy captured, she couldn't think of any better punishment for trying to harm Febrie then sending her to a lab to be… studied.

Ruiko turned to Uiharu and Kuroko and sighed. "If my friends weren't here I'd have killed you for attempting to hurt Febrie but I don't want them to think badly of me."

Tilting her head, a thought occurred to her.

"Then again this might be even better." Ruiko said with a cruel smirk. "Becoming a lab specimen is a much more deserving fate for you then a simple death. Fittingly ironic considering what you wanted from Febrie, I'd think. Naru-san's lab should do. Hopefully they'll let me watch some of their experiments, hehe."

* * *

Mikoto was panting as ducked just in time to avoid a kunai that would have slit her throat.

The two Level 5s had intercepted another Shinobi enroute to the director's office. They had immediately engaged and things had devolved into a chase that had somehow led them to the morgue.

Looking at the floor, Mikoto charged her hand and slammed it against the ground. This sent a storm of lightning that arced along the ground. It failed to find its mark though as the damned shinobi reacted with superhuman reflexes and jumped up into the air to avoid the attack.

Still, that left him wide open as Namikaze leapt up herself to intercept him with a body shattering kick.

Unfortunately, the ninja once again used that substitution technique of his to replace himself with a table that the Usagi's kick reduced to kindling.

In the meantime, the Shinobi landed on one of the walls and looked around.

Mikoto moved to the door, blocking it as lightning danced off her and the door's frame. Up on the ceiling, Namikaze watched him like a predator, even creepily licking her lips.

 _Please just be something to unnerve him._

The man began running through a series of hand seals and the Number 2 tried to interrupt him by swiping at him with a claw she hastily conjured out of that chakra energy of hers. However, he deftly evaded it with an acrobatic leap that easily put him out of its range. The claw lengthened to catch him but he finished his technique before it managed.

He muttered the name of his technique under his breath so softly that Mikoto didn't hear it, but she definitely noticed its effects as it caused his body to start sparking and pumping out an unnatural level of EM radiation.

Emboldened, he punched the Usagi's claw construct and shattered it.

 _What the heck is that?_ Mikoto thought to himself even as she hurled a electric bolt at him. Enhanced by his technique, he took the blow without any problems and instead drew a kunai before charging at the chestnut haired girl.

It seemed his speed had been boosted too, as he moved so fast that within a blink of an eye he was directly in front of the [Railgun] with his blade poised to pierce her heart.

Thinking quickly, the Second Year middle schooler used her electromagnetism and tore the kunai right out of his hand with a shout.

Behind him, Namikaze jumped down and was closing to attack his unprotected back. Apparently judging her the bigger threat, he turned to face her but not before lashing out with a kick that caused Mikoto to feel all the air leave her lungs.

She was sent flying into a wall so hard that she was shocked that her spine didn't fracture from the impact. Slumping down, Mikoto saw a glimpse of bubbling red before she passed out.

* * *

Naru stood to one side as the hospital staff wheeled the two shinobi bodies into the refrigerated cells that lined the morgue. They'd only managed two intact bodies and one bloody mess but it was still very much a win in her opinion, after all not only had they managed to keep Febrie safe but had also scored themselves a prisoner/lab rat.

 _That's quite the achievement._ Naru noted to herself with a pleased grin.

"Did you have to be so messy here as well?" Heaven Canceller said with a frown as he eyed the blood splatter from where she'd blown off the last shinobi's head from his shoulders. "The cleaning crews already have their hands full upstairs."

"Not my fault. You know these morons love their confetti explosives." Naru informed him dismissively. "Besides, at least one of them was helpful enough to decide to fight us here. That saved you some trouble picking his corpse up, didn't it?"

"I suppose," The bald man said with a sigh. "At least we didn't have to drag it far."

"So I heard Ruiko-chan managed to keep hers alive," Naru asked curiously. "Any idea how she did it?"

"Indeed. Apparently she just knocked her out with some type of telepathy." Her favorite doctor smiled. "Hopefully the staff at your lab will be able to either disarm or work around her dead man switch."

"Too bad we never managed to get access to Tree Diagram to break its code." Naru sighed in disappointment. "We were in the queue too, but now that it's gone… What a shame."

"Yes, I'm sure it is." The man said distractedly as he eyed the stack of documents he was carrying under his arm. "Now I have a heap of papers to sign thanks to some rambunctious young ladies."

"...Not rambunctious." Naru pouted as the old man laughed and patted her head kindly. "And stop doing that, I'm not a little kid."

The doctor just chuckled and turned to walk over to check on his staff as they finished loading the bodies into their cells.

"Oh yeah, remember to hand the bodies over once you're done with them!"

"Already on my to-do list."

A laugh escaped Naru's lips as he walked off.

"Crazy old geezer." She smiled fondly at the one man she truly trusted in this City.

* * *

The nameless being known to his foes as Black Zetsu sat his current host's body in a relaxed seiza position waiting for one of his underlings to enter his chambers to make his report on the outcome of the mission he sent out to retrieve the data on the designer Esper clone that one of Academy City's many Dark Side groups had developed.

His subordinate entered and immediately gulped at the body he was wearing, which was exactly as he intended. He'd chosen this over muscled buffon's body purely for the intimidating presence it could convey when he possessed the otherwise mediocre man.

That the man used to be the woman's husband before he'd given him the 'honor' to become his host just added to the effect. Seeing her beloved being reduced to nothing more than a meat puppet was unnerving for anyone. Even someone indoctrinated to think it a glorious fate.

"Report." Zetsu barked as the woman prostrated herself before him.

"The team has failed, my lord."

"Casualties?

"Total. The demon and her friends killed all but one of them and the last has been captured."

He appeared to be patience incarnated. For him who had spent _centuries_ manipulating a whole world into an endless cycle of war and strife from the shadows, who had caused countless genocides all in the name of his Mother.

This? This setback was nothing.

At least that was the image he wanted the pawn before him to walk away with. In truth however anger and frustration bubbled deep within his soul, he simply refused to let it show.

That one name, that one blasted name stirred his ire to no end.

 _Namikaze Naru...the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Everything was that bastard's fault. Curse Obito for not merely killing that girl in the womb! Her and that monster in the tower. I'll have their heads for slaying Mother…_

Their plans has all come to fruition! They had merely been crossing dimensions to complete her by picking up the last fragment of her being that had somehow slipped through the net, but upon arrival they'd been drawn into a battle, no, slaughter, with _Beast666_ … There had been nothing Black Zetsu could do. As it was, he had barely managed to escape with his life.

And now he was stuck here in this new world, with nothing to do but avenge his Mother's death.

"The loss and failure are inconsequential. We have many other means to bolster our strength." He grunted and smiled cruelly. "Still, having those overconfident fools removed from our ranks is just as good. We have no need for ones such as they who know not the need to be cautious."

 _Of course even if I say that, they were still some of my strongest pawns. I will have to train my tools further. I cannot have fools who recklessly charge into danger. I need daggers in the shadows that can_ pick _their targets. Not fools who do not even realize when their foes are outside their weight class._

"How is our progress on the research and development for the Kemono no Shuryō?" He demanded.

"It is progressing slowly, my lord." The woman said bowing her head even closer to the floor. "Though they remain within our expectations."

 _Still not ready yet!? If this was the Elemental Nations, something as rudimentary as this would have been the work of a mere fortnight at most. They've had months! I want to get that Kyuubi brat now!_

Silent as the night, he merely gave a curt nod of his head.

The foolish woman taking it as a sign that he was pleased with her, smiled. Though she quickly smothered it as she remembered where she was.

Giving the idiot a dismissive wave of his hand, he waited till she was gone before he let go of his mask.

Once he was sure that he was alone, he stood and let out a rage filled cry.

"Blast her, may that girl have the most painful of deaths!"

He stormed around, huffing and puffing as he tried to recompose himself. It was a process he had grown accustomed to.

 _I just need to patient. I just need to wait and I'll get my revenge. Patience Zetsu, patience._

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless as always.**

 **Phew, looks like our little cinnamon roll is safe and sound. Good thing Saten is a ruthless mama bear.**

 **Nameless: So some of you might be confused by the scene where Ruiko takes down the kunoichi, so here's a quick explanation. Basically as far as we can recall, telepathy in the Toaruverse can't just tell a person to drop dead. It can make someone commit suicide but not just order their brain to shut down or something like that. And this is after seeing [Mental Out] go all out in quite a few battles. By that logic, Ruiko couldn't do it either. So instead, she just made the kunoichi think she was dead which was enough of a shock to the system to knock her out. Why go to all the trouble? Well, she's angry as hell at the moment over everything that has to do with Febrie and she needed to vent. Lucky for her, a idiot kunoichi presented herself as the perfect target for her to do so.**

 **On another note, I hope you guys noticed Naru and Heaven Canceller have something of a familial relationship going on. It's actually nice since we both just realized that he is the closest thing to a grampa she's got. Hopefully we can have more interactions with them.**

 **Nameless: We also introduced the leader of the shinobi this chapter. Lo and behold, it's our old friend Black Zetsu. Someone who as he explained here has quite the justified hateboner against Academy City/Aleister. They did kill his mum, like again. (How many times has that 'woman' died/got sealed now? It's like she's a meme by this point.) Though whether he's justified in hating Naru too? Well, that's more debatable.**

 **Oh no! Kaguya's been Kaguya'd! Just like Yamcha…**

 **Nameless: So we had a review that pointed out the Febrie was a little OOC. In hindsight we have to agree. That said, we don't really think the difference is big enough for us to go through and rewrite everything. As such, we're going to instead justify the change by chalking it up to Shinobu programming the twins in a different way from canon so as to appeal to the Trinity as a whole rather than just Mikoto.**

 **Well, you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Twenty Five: Gossip Get-Together**

 **Beta:**

* * *

"Argh!" Mikoto groaned as she woke up.

 _Why do I feel like I went ten rounds with Accelerator?_ The Level 5 thought to herself as she groggily pushed herself up into a seating position and rubbed her temples. Her head was killing her.

"Wait! The shinobi!" The electromaster gasped as the night's events came rushing back to her.

"We dealt with them." Namikaze said seriously as she walked over. "How are you feeling? Heaven Canceller said you only had a very minor concussion and that you'd be okay after some rest, but you hit that wall pretty hard."

"That ass had a powerful kick." Mikoto admitted with a grimace.

"Yeah. They're annoying bugs. Don't worry though. I cleaned up the mess."

"Good morning, Onee-sama." Kuroko said sleepily as she woke up, apparently having been disturbed by their conversation. "You're up early."

"It's eight in the morning." Saten-chan noted as she teleported in, carrying a bag full of various breads from one of Uiharu's favorite bakeries. The food smelled lovely, not that Mikoto's perverted roommate appreciated it.

"Eh? Well, I must have been too drawn into my dream." Kuroko blushed and held her cheeks. "Truly it was marvelous, hehehe."

"Really? That's nice." Mikoto said flatly. She had a good idea what she had 'dreamt' about.

"Breakfast~!" Uiharu said dreamily as she literally crawled over to Saten-chan and the plethora of goodies she had bought them.

"Hm, I am pretty hungry." Namikaze said as she skipped on over.

"I don't think I have enough for you." Saten-chan pointed out. "Supplement with those speciality energy bars of yours."

"I can just nibble on four or five things."

"Glutton." Mikoto pointed out. "If you did that there wouldn't be enough for the rest of us."

"I'm a growing girl!" The blonde pouted as she reached into the bag and snatched several pastries.

"Am I interrupting something?" Heaven Canceller said with an amused smile as he walked up to the group.

"Just distributing breakfast." Saten-chan said as she handed the bag of bread over to Uiharu. "You have news?"

"Help yourself." The Usagi chirped after practically inhaling three of the pastries she'd taken earlier.

 _How?_ Mikoto thought as she shook her head in astonishment. _But now's not the time to worry about the black hole that the Usagi has for a stomach._

"I already ate, but thank you. I have some good news for you all. Febrie-chan has regained consciousness."

The girls all smiled at that. Uiharu going as far as to literally cheer.

"Uiharu, why don't you go let her have some breakfast. It's gotta beat hospital food, no offense sensei." Saten-chan suggested.

"None taken." The legendary physician said with a good natured smile. "I'm fully aware of how boring the food from my kitchens can get."

"Are you sure Saten-san?" Uiharu asked uncertainty. "Surely Febrie-chan would like to see you first thing."

"I have questions."

Uiharu frowned but nodded.

 _She shouldn't go alone. Just in case there's another group of crazies hanging around waiting to attack._ Mikoto reasoned.

"Kuroko, go with her."

The teleporter blinked in confusion but seemed to quickly catch on and nodded in agreement.

The group watched the two Judgement agents walk off in silence. It was only when they were safely out of earshot that Heaven Canceller chose to address the Trinity.

"Her condition has improved all on her own. I'm ashamed to admit this but due to her being scientifically manmade, I cannot do much for her." He rubbed his chin, looking somewhat disgruntled.

"So Febrie's not technically human?" Saten-chan noted with a frown.

"Not enough to fit within the narrow scope of my abilities unfortunately." The man admitted with a pained look.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sensei's medical skill is a special power, like an Esper's ability." Namikaze explained. "He can heal practically any sickness or injury, even if it is terminal. Even distort God's rules, but it has limits on what it can work on."

"I can only work on humans."

"Is this some kind of magic?" Mikoto asked with distaste as she recalled her recent unpleasant run in with the Chinese magicians.

"Who knows?" The doctor deflected with a teasing smirk.

"Sensei, do you know who might have created Febrie?" Saten-chan asked with an anxious frown as she steered the conversation back on track.

"Yeah, any help would be greatly appreciated." Mikoto agreed earnestly.

The frog faced doctor looked at the Number 5 searchingly for a moment, before addressing her seriously.

"Are you sure you want to know that, young lady? They are all linked to the Dark Side. I'd have thought after your latest brush with that side of the City, you'd be leery of dealing with them."

Mikoto swallowed dryly, but with a resolute look, she nodded. "I can handle it."

"Very well. You'd need to filter through all the likely fronts that they would be using to funnel funds into their project. And then-"

"You do remember _who_ you are talking to, right Sensei?" Namikaze asked cockily.

With a wry smile on his face, Heaven Canceller nodded. "Indeed. I'll mail you the list within the day."

"Thank you!"

* * *

After their meeting with the doctor, the Trinity went to join their friends and Febrie. Though as they walked, Mikoto broke away to meet up with one of her clones loitering nearby.

"Onee-sama, I'm jealous that you spent the night just to watch over Febrie-chan's condition. Misaka pouts as she wishes to be spoiled by Onee-sama as well."

"I'm not spoiling her." Mikoto rubbed her eyes. "I'm just making sure she's alright."

"Misaka huffs and looks to the side, acting tsundere like Onee-sama."

"I'm not a tsundere!" The [Railgun] snapped at her clone.

"Anyway, Misaka says as she ignores Onee-sama's futile denial. There is something important that Misaka must inform Onee-sama, Misaka says seriously."

"What is it?"

"Through observation, Febrie-chan's thought patterns are similar to the Sisters. Misaka hypothesizes that she is ninety seven point six percent sure that Febrie-Chan has gained knowledge through Testament much as we have, Misaka confidently declares. Her sister Janie-chan likely has as well, Misaka adds with less certainty."

"What? How did you figure that out? Wait, sister!?"

"I was Febrie-chan's last line of defense last night, Misaka explains, we had a short conversation and she mentioned Janie-chan. We also noticed the similarities between us, for example we both like Gekota, Misaka smirks blaming the childish attraction on inheriting it from Onee-sama."

"Hey!"

"All joking aside, Misaka says getting serious again, it seems she was programmed by Nunotaba-san as well."

"Eh? That dead eyed girl?"

"Misaka nods." The clone said staring at her progenitor unblinkingly.

"Alright then, I guess I'll have Saten-chan look her up. She probably has some information we can use."

"When you do find her, Onee-sama, could you tell Nunotaba-san that the Misaka Network would like to thank her for introducing us to the taste of milk tea, Misaka asks earnestly."

"I'll uh, keep that in mind. Milk tea? Really?" Mikoto knitted her brow.

"It's wonderful, Misaka says while wistfully thinking of having some."

"A-Alright."

* * *

Febrie had been discharged late in the afternoon and the girls had left the hospital with her in tow as they headed over to Ruiko-chan's place. While the little girl had her afternoon nap, the older girls decided to spend some time relaxing a little by having some fun. And what better way to do that while also building bonds (Or shattering them) than some Dungeons and Dragons.

An endeavour helped along by the fact that Kiyama-sensei was a bit of a fanatic for the game when she was younger and had a whole closet filled with modules and dice.

Naru herself was interested and offered to run a game to pass the time. With Febrie-chan huddled nearby taking a small nap, the older girls settled down to play a game.

"Saten-san, stop minmaxing like that! You're spoiling the game by playing like that." Shirai-chan demanded, standing up to glare down at the aforementioned Level 5 across the table.

"But it's efficient." [Multi Skill] replied defensively.

Naru couldn't help it, she broke out into giggles at the scene playing out in front of her.

"It isn't against the rules, Shirai-chan~!"

"It still makes things less fun."

"It's not that bad." Uiharu-chan hedged.

"Of course you'd side with Saten-san." Shirai-chan dismissed angrily. "Your opinion is hardly unbiased."

"Cut it out, Shirai-chan." Naru said at last, as things started to get out of hand. "I'm the DM here and I say it's fine, so live with it."

Shirai-chan huffed in frustration and looked away as she scanned her spell sheet.

"How about we take a break." Ruiko-chan suggested in a transparent bid to change the topic. They had been playing for roughly an hour and it seemed like a good idea.

Thankfully, the others all agreed and the Number 3 went off to get everyone some tea and snacks with Uiharu-chan going with her to help.

While the two black haired girls were away, Naru turned to the uncharacteristically quiet Electromaster. "Yo Sempai, why so quiet?"

"Sorry about that, I was just distracted."

"Thinking about whatever you ran off to do while we were working through all the paperwork to get Febrie-chan discharged?"

"Yeah," Sempai agreed.

"What was that exactly?" Shirai-chan asked, curious and concerned.

"Something Therestina said?" Ruiko-chan asked as she and Uiharu returned laden down with delectable goodies.

"Therestina?" Naru asked with a raised brow, while Shirai-chan and Uiharu-chan just looked confused.

"That souped up Powered Suit that attacked Febrie the other day? It was designed by the Kihara Family." Ruiko-chan explained. "As a Kihara, Therestina had intel we need."

"And you didn't want to lose your temper and kill her before you got it out of her." Naru deduced. "So you sent Sempai instead."

Ruiko-chan nodded as she laid out the snacks she'd brought while Uiharu-chan poured everyone cups of tea.

"Yes and the next time we have to deal with someone on the Dark Side, I'm totally not going." The [Railgun] hissed. "I very nearly killed that witch myself, especially when she started taunting me about how Academy City is just one big experiment and everyone inside are lab animals."

Shirai-chan and Uiharu-chan had shocked looks at that.

Naru and her fellow Dark Sider actually exchanged a knowing look with one another.

Clearing her throat, Ruiko-chan asked cautiously. "Your hatred for the Dark Side is a little overblown. You haven't exactly been exposed to it much-"

A hard glare from their Sempai stopped the Number 3 from saying anything more.

"I've had more than enough, besides you're one to talk after what its done to you."

"...Point made."

A thick cloud of tension settled over the room, making the other girls look uncomfortable.

Deciding to defuse the situation, Naru spoke up.

"I'll go next time, okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

"So what did you learn from the old hag, Onee-sama?" Shirai-chan asked into the easing tension of the room.

The chestnut haired girl took a breath, no doubt to calm herself.

"From what she said, there's this group Threstina refused to name that wanted to make themselves known by creating entities called 'Chemicaloids'. I'm assuming that's the proper label for what Febrie is called."

"Chemicaloids?" Uhari-chan frowned at the name.

"Yeah. From what she suggested, they probably want to show them off in some upcoming event. Probably the Research Exhibition Assembly just to prove they've done it."

"Alright, I get that, but why attack us to get her back?" Naru asked. "That makes them pretty sketchy. Heck, even more so."

"They might have just been aiming to eliminate the evidence." Ruiko-chan noted, her voice brimming with anger.

"Because why not?" Naru rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair. Crossing her arms, she said. "So what's our game plan now?"

"I'll check with the other Judgement branches if they've heard anything and check with Anti-Skill whether they've finally decided to actually do something." Shirai-chan offered.

"I'll keep trawling the databases." Uiharu-chan added.

"Maybe Heaven Canceller knows more." Naru mused. "I'll go check with him."

"I might have a lead too," Mikoto-sempai said looking skittish.

"A lead?"

"Yeah, I heard something from a friend in the hospital."

"Ah," Ruiko-chan noted with a nod. "Something 10032 said?"

 _10032? Oh! One of the Sisters. Hope she isn't a weird one._

"Who?" Shirai-san asked, clearly confused.

"Err. A friend. It's a nickname."

"How odd." Shirai-chan said, though she seemed willing to let it go.

 _Lucky. If she decided to dig into it, there's no way that she won't figure things out eventually. She's too determined when on a case for her own good at times._

"So Saten-san, what are you gonna do?"

Ruiko-chan just shrugged at her best friend. "Keeping Febrie safe. After the repeated attacks, I won't risk leaving her alone."

"Mwa?" Febrie asked as she woke up at the mention of her name. She rubbed her eyes and asked. "Nee-chans are loud."

"Aw, sorry Febrie-chan. How about some milk and cookies?" Naru offered.

"Yay!"

Ruiko-chan frowned at the older blonde. "You'll spoil her dinner."

"Don't worry. She's a growing girl!" The Number 2 dismissed.

"No." Ruiko-chan said crossing her arms and staring down at both Naru and Febrie-chan.

"Rui-mama no fun~" Naru pouted and Febrie copied her.

"Rui-nee no fun~"

The other girls just giggled, but that didn't seem to faze Ruiko-chan who just continued to unwaveringly glare at the two blondes.

"Fine. We'll have cookies later Febrie-chan."

"Okay Naru-nee!"

"What is she? The child whisperer?" Mikoto-sempai deadpanned.

Ruiko-chan just shook her head. "Just go. Didn't you guys already decide where to go? So _go_!"

"Mama's time of the month~" Naru sang in a fit of giggles.

Febrie-chan cocked her head to the side. "Time of the month?"

 _ **That might have gone a little too far there.**_ Kurama said fearfully as the Number 3 glared at them with a terrible intensity.

The next thing Naru knew, she was dropped on her butt outside Ruiko-chan's house.

"It was still funny!" The blonde said as she snatched her shoes out of the air as they materialized directly over her head.

* * *

Mikoto had taken the tip from her clone and had looked for Nunotaba Shinobu. However, the dead eyed girl had seemingly disappeared. All the labs which had previously listed her as being a member of their staff had struck her off their rolls and she'd even been expelled from Nagatenjouki Academy.

Even as she texted the rest of the group with news of what she'd discovered, Mikoto couldn't help but ponder what had led the scientist to suffer such a fate. _Is this her punishment for interfering with the Level 6 Shift experiment?_

A small chill ran up her spine at the thought. For all she knew, she could have been dead in a ditch somewhere.

 _No, that doesn't make sense. The Sister said Febrie was probably programmed by Nunotaba so she must still be around. Right?_

Her phone buzzed with a reply, flipping it open she noted that it was from Saten-chan.

[If she's been so obviously scrubbed from the records then it can only mean that she's fallen out of favor with the City's higher ups. Considering her proven ability as a researcher, that's the only reason that this would be done to her.] - Saten

"Fallen out of favor? That's what she calls it." Mikoto frowned. Her phone buzzed again and this time it was from the Usagi.

[True. Real qn is what hapned aftr she was expelled?] - Namikaze

"So where does an expelled scientist go?" Mikoto texted back.

[Since she's basically disappeared from the records, it can only mean that she's went underground.] - Saten

"Hm, possible." Mikoto hummed as she texted back.

[Shinobu wld nvr willingly work on a project to hurt ppl. Espec lil girls. Not aftr Lvl6 Shift] - Mikoto

[Agreed.] - Saten

[Grt! More rescuees. So annoying.] - Namikaze

"Haha, that's true but we are the good guys." Mikoto shook her head. The Usagi could be so lazy at times.

[Stpd qn, Ruiko-chan, but y are you spelling everything proper like tat?] - Namikaze

[Using the proper spelling and grammar is polite. I'm setting a good example for Febrie.] - Saten

Mikoto couldn't help but snort at that. "Yeah, like that's the only reason. I betcha she's just pissed as hell and being all roboty because of that."

[Usagi, the frog-faced sensei say anything?] - Mikoto

[Still waiting 4 my appontment] - Namikaze

[Let me know if he tells us anything new.] - Saten

Mikoto nodded in agreement.

[Kk. Oh! He's waving me over. ttyl.] - Namikaze

* * *

Naru sat on a leather chair as Heaven's Canceller sorted through some documents. The sheets of papers all seemed to hold documentation on Febrie, her condition, and other possible issues she could face.

"I hate to admit this, Naru-kun, but I still haven't made any progress on the formula." He sighed tiredly. "It is far too complex for my abilities."

"Hey hey, don't beat yourself up over it. This is a whole new field for you. Febrie-chan isn't like the Sisters." The blonde told him, trying to reassure the doctor.

"I still don't like it. I'll have to spend a few weeks on the subject." He replied and rubbed his eyes. "The current supply the young lady has will last her roughly seventy two hours. Give or take an hour or two."

"Shit." Naru frowned and tightened her fists around her skirt. She reached down to the side of her and pulled out an object from her bag. "Maybe this will help."

"What is this?" The physician asked as he took over a case containing a filament-like substance inside.

"It's the only piece of evidence the higher ups didn't confiscate from our allies in Anti-Skill." The blonde informed him. "According to Ruiko-chan it was the catalyst for the Diffusion Ghost ability that was used to remotely pilot the machines that attacked Febrie-chan."

"Hmm," Heaven Canceller hummed consideringly as he examined the specimen. "I'd need to run some tests, but-"

"It's not Febrie-chan's."

"Then, if I was a betting man, I'd wager it was from a close relative. A sibling or maybe a clone."

The pigtailed girl rubbed her temples. "Alright, then that means we have _three_ people to save. Man, what I wouldn't give for a simple search and destroy mission instead right now. Those are a lot easier than this."

The old doctor chuckled, "I think this work fits you better."

"Really?" She cocked her head to the side.

"Indeed." The man said with a pleasant smile. "You were always more suited to things like this than being the bloody assassin that Aleister used you as."

A smile came to Naru's face as she thought on that.

* * *

After the morning of information gathering, the girls rendezvoused at the 177th Branch Office. They were joined by Konori-Sempai, of course, but also Kongou-san who was acting as the representative of Wannai-san and Awatsuki-san who were too busy to attend in person.

"Saten-san, any luck?" Uiharu said as they sat down in the office's rest area to compare their findings.

The Level 5 looked up from where she was helping Febrie set up a playlist of videos on YouTube to address her best friend.

 _Hopefully that'll keep her occupied long enough for us to talk._ Kuroko noted as Saten-san replied.

"Not much, I'm afraid." The information broker said with a frown. "There's plenty of things going on in the Dark Side as usual, but nothing that seems to pertain to Febrie."

"You sure about that?" Namikaze-san asked clearly unconvinced.

"Pretty sure. I had Wataru-san looking up my contacts. I had some hope we could dig up clues, but nothing as of yet."

"Nothing too dangerous I hope." Konori-Sempai asked, warning clear in her tone.

"No, he's just meeting up with other info brokers. Comparing notes basically."

"And none of it is relevant?" Kuroko chimed in. Surely between the City's various information peddlers, someone knew something useful.

"Not that I can tell. All the talk lately has been about how some group is buying up tons of parts for mobile weapons and Powered Suits. There's been no mention of Chemicaloids or anything that remotely fits the bill."

"We're running out of time." The blonde Level 5 stressed.

"So has _anyone_ found anything useful?" Onee-sama noted asked with a hint of desperation.

"I-I've been running a search on the City's databases, using what little intel we have on this group." Uiharu stated as she typed speedily. "I probably won't find anything, b-but this is the best I can do."

The flower crown wearing girl looked down and Kuroko could understand her pain. She herself hadn't found much she could do to help and it gnawed at her.

"What database are you searching right now?" Namikaze-san asked. "You can't be searching the whole [Bank] right?"

"I'll explain this one." Kuroko stepped in. "We've been looking at things from the angle of the Research Exhibition Assembly since that's where the attacks took place."

"You think someone related to the event is involved?" Onee-sama hypothesized. "Why? There's gotta be more than just the attacks. Anyone could have set those up and the attacks taking place at the Assembly grounds might have just been a coincidence.

Kuroko nodded. "That's true if that was all we had to go on, but there was something particularly suspicious about the event this year. Namely that a number of high profile former participants, award winners no less, had refused to take part this year."

"A boycott?" Saten-san suggested, even as she stiffened and was probably plundering the City's databases to follow up on this new lead.

"Maybe, but if that's the case they haven't issued any demands or letters of protest."

"That's awfully suspicious." Namikaze agreed. "But linking it to Febrie's situation is a stretch."

"I know, but it's all we could come up with."

"Wait!" Kongou-san said suddenly as she pointed to the laptop Uiharu was using to show them the files on the suspiciously absent former Assembly participants. "Go back a couple files."

Uiharu obliged.

"Yes, that's him!"

"Eh?"

"The man that was on the phone! The one who talked about 'reclaiming' Febrie."

Uiharu opened the file, showing the picture of a bespectacled man. "His name is Aritomi Haruki, a former winner of the Assembly."

"Mayhaps this incident has something to do with Haruki and the others. It is rather suspicious that they aren't there and something like this happens?" Kuroko pondered aloud. "Along with Kongou-san's testimony of hearing to 'reclaim' Febrie… I think we finally have the lead we need."

"STUDY!" Saten-san suddenly hissed angrily.

"STUDY?" Namikaze-san blinked curiously. "Shutaura warned me about them."

"Saten-san, Namikaze-san, mind sharing?" Konori-Sempai asked, her arms crossed and fingers impatiently drumming along her forearms.

"I missed the obvious, that's what!" Saten-san groaned and palmed her face. "The Kiharas might have developed the Powered Suit that attacked Febrie but they never actually built it, instead the City contracted it out."

"To STUDY." Namikaze-san deduced.

"Who's this STUDY?" Onee-sama asked with a sigh. "You two still haven't explained that."

"The STUDY Corporation, a company that produces a wide variety of products ranging from drugs and other chemicals to Powered Suits." Uiharu chimed in as she pulled up the company's website for them to have a look.

"One whose board of directors is led by Aritomi and is made up almost entirely out of other Research Exhibition Assembly regulars who are skipping it this year." Saten-san said with a self-deprecating frown. "I can't believe I never noticed how suspicious they were until now."

The pigtailed blonde slumped in her seat and sighed. "Ruiko-chan, just talking about Kiharas makes you sloppy. Geez!"

"Can you blame her though?" Uiharu asked, standing up for her friend.

"No. Naru-san is right. I'm sorry I screwed up." The brunette looked towards her best friend. "Uiharu, anything else about them worth knowing?

"Hmm. This is interesting." Uiharu noted with a confused frown. "They seemed to have bought a old factory building in School District 17 for an exorbitant price."

The other girls sans Kongou-san all exchanged looks.

"It's a front."

"I can bet there's a secret lab there." Onee-sama suggested.

"No bet." Namikaze-san dismissed airily.

"Honestly, Misaka-san trying to win some pocket money using something so obvious? I expected better from you." Konori-Sempai said teasingly.

"I'm just messing around is all. I wasn't serious. Hehe." Onee-sama laughed awkwardly.

 _Onee-sama, your acting skills need work._

"Uh. Why are you guys so sure?"

"Kongou-chan, we've done this a lot of times." Namikaze-san winked. "We're professionals."

"It's a factory right?" Kuroko mused, as Uiharu nodded in agreement. "Any chance that it was used to produce Febrie or at least her lollipops?"

"There's a chance." Onee-sama suggested hopefully.

Saten-san and Namikaze-san exchanged a look.

"You guys know that it's a little too obvious, right?" Namikaze-san offered on behalf of the two Dark Siders.

"It's worth a shot to investigate anyways." Konori-Sempai encouraged.

"Alright, that's true." Saten-san said reluctantly.

"Yeah, no." Namikaze-san shook her head. "I've got better things to do than walk into an obvious trap."

Her blue eyes met Saten-san's for some reason and she simply got up to leave.

"Oh?" Febrie looked away from her videos and waved. "Naru-nee, bye-bye~!"

"See ya later Febrie-chan!"

"Why did she just leave like that?" Uiharu asked in concern. "She'd be very helpful."

"Nothing to worry about, Uiharu-san." Kongou-san said, a pondering look on her face. "Namikaze-san is probably up to something else. She wouldn't readily leave us in such a dire time. At least not without reason."

"Oh? Since when can you understand Namikaze-san?" Kuroko couldn't help but ask.

Kongou-san snapped open her fan and smiled proudly. "I am just that great at understanding people, oh-hoho!"

Kuroko felt sweat slide down her face.

 _Are we sure she should be here?_

* * *

STUDY's factory in School District 17 was as nondescript as it could come. It was basically just a box like building that from looking in through the windows was filled with machinery.

That was not all that Ruiko and Misaka-Sempai could see through the dirty, often broken windows though. Peering through the openings they saw that the interior was filled with hundreds of Powered Suits engaged in a brawl with the Number 6, [Meltdowner] and her team.

"What's _she_ doing here?"

"Irrelevant." Ruiko said dispassionately as she stalked towards the wall as she shaped her AIM field to emulate some telekinesis.

In one powerful demonstration of the copied ability she sent a large chunk of the wall flying into the interior of the factory crushing dozens of the Powered Suits in a single move. Any that remained were swiftly dispatched by various energy beams that she sent cutting through the building.

"Eh? Oi! Saten, isn't that a bit over the top? I thought we wanted stealth, stealth!"

"Irrelevant."

"Oh no, she's going all Terminator."

"What the heck, Number 3!?" Mugino Shizuri shouted angrily. "Were you trying to crush us?"

"Irrelevant. Move."

The two Level 5 electromasters exchanged a look.

"She's upset."

"I can see that. What has her so pissed off that she's butting into our business?"

"Err, lollipops?"

"Frenda Seivelun." Ruiko addressed the most competent member of ITEM. "Why is your team here?"

"Frenda, don't you-"

"STUDY tricked us into testing out their Powered Suits and to gather data on Mugino's ability." The Caucasian spouted out without any hesitation at all.

"Frenda!" The Number 6 growled angrily.

"Mugino, you know the scary ones make me spill my guts!" The beret wearing girl stated. "I cannot be blamed for this."

A quick look into ITEM's archives corroborated Frenda's story.

"Pathetic." Ruiko noted as she turned away from [Meltdowner].

"What did you call me!?" The modelesque Level 5 hissed as she glared at Ruiko. "And you peeked into my archives, right? Stay out!"

"Irrelevant." Ruiko said as the rubble she recently collapsed started to rise into the air.

"Mugino, maybe we shouldn't antagonize the girl who once _slaughtered all of our subordinate organisations in a single afternoon?_ " Kinuhata Saiai grabbed hold of Mugino's arm to restrain her, trembling all the while.

The Number 6 audibly ground her teeth.

"Wait, what?" Sempai screeched, startled by the revelation.

"Attempted recruitment. Attempted to kidnap Kaa-san." Ruiko explained dismissively.

"...C-Can we focus on the issue at hand and talk about this later?" Sempai weakly asked.

"Better yet, Mugino, can we just leave?" Takitsubo Rikou begged from where she was hiding behind some equipment. "You can't feel [Army Slayer]'s AIM but it's raging like a hornet's nest right now. I really, really don't want to be here when she explodes."

The Number 6 looked at her thoroughly shaken team and with clear reluctance nodded.

"Yes, run with your tail in between your legs like you always do when faced with a stronger foe." Ruiko couldn't resist taunting the older Level 5. She still hadn't forgiven the other woman for trying to hurt her mother.

Already halfway out of the building, Mugino turned to glare at [Multi Skill]. "Make me."

"Alright, both of you cut it out!" Sempai shouted at the two of them. "We're in the middle of a battlefield and you're acting like brats!"

The venomous glare the Number 6 sent towards Sempai just made her quirk a brow. It seemed she was getting used to this now.

"Do you really want to fight the two of us?"

That seemed to sober [Meltdowner] up quickly, even if she continued to look angry.

"We're leaving. NOW!" Spinning on her heel, the older Level 5 strutted towards the exit. Firing her lasers at any surviving Powered Suit that got in her way.

* * *

The two members of the Trinity began their search of the factory for any clues that would help them find anything that would help Febrie. In particular, they were searching for the hidden lab that the facility undoubtedly had.

Well Mikoto was anyways, Saten-chan seemed to instead be having fun tearing through the factory's various computer systems while idly destroying the odd Powered Suit. Considering her devastating opening barrage, the electromaster suspected her friend had only left these few survivors so she could have something to play with while she worked. A thought strengthened by the way she seemed to absentmindedly twist their wreckage into sculptures worthy of an abstract modern art exhibit with telekinesis while glaring at the screen of the computer they'd found in the factory's control room.

 _At least she's getting all of her aggression out now._ Mikoto lamented as she stuck behind her Kohai. _I really don't want to see her do something like that to an actual human being._

She was drawn out of her morbid thoughts about her friend's anger management strategies when she felt a burst of unaccounted for electromagnetic output nearby.

"Oi, Saten-chan. Can you feel that?"

The [AIM Sovereign] nodded. "Feels like someone booted up a whole new section of the facility. Could you go check it out? I'm still sorting through the data here."

"You sure? I don't like leaving you without any backup."

The raven haired girl just smirked and the sculpture she'd been toying with suddenly rapidly reshaped itself into a souped up working Powered Suit. It looked like some kind of boxish squat machine twice the mass of the normal Powered Suits STUDY and City favoured.

"What ability is that?"

"I'm no expert but I've helped design my fair share of Powered Suits and STUDY isn't the only one who can use Diffusion Ghost."

Mikoto just stared at the construct her kohai had created with amazement.

"You're utterly broken, you know that?" The older girl said as she regained her bearings with an exasperated shake of her head.

"Yes." The long haired girl said neutrally.

 _She could at least be humble about it. Heck, even being proud would be better. This casual acceptance of it as fact? I just don't know what to say to that._ The [Railgun] thought to herself with a sigh as she walked off.

"Be safe, Sempai." The Number 3 said with a careless wave goodbye without once looking away from the computer she was hacking into.

Mikoto didn't bother directly returning the wave instead directing her own towards one of the factory's nearby surveillance cameras, confident that her friend had by this point suborned all of them and would see her just fine.

She was so confident of this fact that she casually strolled through the place as she tracked down the source of the earlier electromagnetic disturbance. As usual, her kohai was right and its origin was the activation of a part of the facility that they hadn't explored with an entrance that had been hidden behind a now open door previously concealed as part of a wall.

"How did we miss this?" The second year middle schooler asked herself as she entered the newly revealed secret lab.

" _I didn't."_ Saten-chan replied using that creepy audiokinetic power she'd taken to using lately. " _I just wanted to be through and decided to process the data in the normal areas first. Besides, with [Meltdowner] having attacked the place ahead of us, there was a chance someone would come and try to delete data or retrieve something vital."_

"So you pretended to be distracted to set a trap?"

" _Pretty much. Didn't expect it to catch anyone though."_

"Whatever's down here must be important then."

" _Yes, secure it please. I'll be down in a minute. The material up here is surprisingly useful. There's plenty of stuff that look like they could be components for the drug in Febrie's lollipops."_

"Gotcha. Leave things down here to me." Mikoto agreed with a nod, as she spotted a room up ahead that looked occupied.

Charging up some static just in case, she slowly crept to the edge of the door and peered in. The room appeared to be a console room of some kind and hunched over a terminal was a girl with an average looking build, unkempt hair and fish eyes.

"Come on. Faster." The girl's worried voice murmured in the quiet room. "Please, please, I need it now. It can't happen again."

"Nunotaba-san?" Mikoto greeted in a whisper.

Not even looking her way, she nodded her head. "Hello, Misaka-san. You came just in time."

Walking closer, Mikoto peered over her shoulder. She could see several chemical formulas popping up on the monitor and a loading bar.

"What are you doing?"

"Downloading the formula and production procedure for the counteragent to save Febrie." The messy haired girl said. "I took the opportunity of Number 6's attack to sneak away from STUDY to come steal it."

Mikoto just smiled at the other girl's bravery and good hearted nature.

"I'm sorry for having troubled you and the rest of the Trinity with taking care of Febrie." The scientist said with a bow. "But I knew that if there's any group who could take care of her it would be you and your friends."

Shaking her head, Mikoto said. "It's no problem. Of course we'd have helped her."

"Heh, knights in shining armor." The dead eyed girl chuckled and pulled a data drive from the desktop. "Here. Febrie's supply is running low no doubt. Be sure to give them to Kiyama-sensei. With this she should be able to synthesize more of the counteragent in no time at all."

The older girl looked visibly relieved to have delivered the key to saving Febrie's life. The tension in her body relaxed and a tiny smile appeared on her usually dead face.

"This is great, Nunotaba-san! Come on, let's get out of here. I'm sure Febrie would love to see you again."

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen." A male voice said from the entrance to the room.

Turning to its source, both girls spotted a tall and slender bespectacled male wearing his black hair short. He wore round-framed glasses, and a lab coat over a uniform of sorts, which consisted of a buttoned-up collared shirt and pants, both blue-green in color.

Mikoto easily recognised him. This was Aritomi Haruki, the leader of STUDY and likely the chief mastermind of all of Febrie's woes.

"And look what cockroach scurried out of the woodwork." Mikoto frowned as lightning sparked from her fists. "I thought you were smart. I guess idiots do have courage."

"Idiot you say, Level 5?" The man asked tauntingly as he fished out a data drive from his pockets. "Who's the idiot here when I'm the one holding the real data you want. You two fools didn't even realize what you've recovered was nothing but a dummy."

 _Still you._ Mikoto thought as her body charged with electricity.

"I wouldn't try it, [Railgun]." Artomi said as he gripped the data drive in his hand hard enough to crack its casing. "Or I might break this."

 _Damn it._ The electromaster cursed under her breath. _Saten-chan will kill me if I let him do that._

"Nunotaba, you traitor. You want the spare to live don't you?" The man said. "Then you have a choice to make."

Pulling an autoinjector out of his pockets he tossed it to Nunotaba-san.

"Inject the [Railgun] with that paralyzing agent. If you do, I will give you the true recipe to let it live."

"I-I…" The female scientist hesitated. Looking conflicted and spared Mikoto a pained expression.

"Do it." Mikoto said with little hesitation. "Remember, this is for Febrie. And I told you we we're going to help her. No matter what."

Nodding, Nunotaba-san picked up the injector and pressed it against Mikoto's arm. She let out a hiss as the contents flooded her body.

"You two are really a pair of idiots." The man said as he began to clench his fist holding the precious data drive.

Both girls could only look on in shocked horror at his betrayal of their bargain.

Thankfully though, they weren't the only ones in the facility.

Aritomi had barely applied any pressure on the fragile piece of electronics when with the painful sound of breaking bones, his fist was ripped open and the drive flew into the palm of a menacingly approaching Saten-chan.

The man screamed in agony at his ruined hand and gripped it with his still functioning one, but Saten-chan was not done yet.

"You tried to doom Febrie with those hands. You will pay for that."

With that ominous declaration she wretched his arms apart with her telekinesis. Eying the scientist's hands with murderous intent, Saten-chan began to glow with a rainbow coloured aura. A pair of tendrils broke off from the main mass and proceeded to stab right through the man's hands, instantly reducing them to a bloody mist.

Even more terrifying, the tentacles began moving down the man's arms disintegrating his body as they moved. Peeling his skin, tearing his flesh from his bone, and crashing even that into fine powder. All while the man's screams of agony rung in everyone's ears.

Nunotaba-san was too terrified to do anything, but the [Railgun] wasn't about to let her kohai do something stupid.

Struggling, Mikoto used her own powers to puppeteer her paralyzed body. Moving on wooden legs to the brunette, she wrapped her arms around her. As Aritomi finally collapsed, Mikoto said. "S-Stop. Saten. Stop now. Please. Killing him isn't right. If you do it then it'll make you no different from monstrous Dark Siders like him "

[Multi-Skill] however seemed dead to the world, utterly wrapped up it seemed in exacting her revenge on the man who had wronged the girl she'd adopted. Deciding something a little more extreme was in order, Mikoto built up a charge and shocked her friend.

The attack caused the chestnut haired girl to slide to the floor with a pained grunt as the electricity she'd been using to move her body was discharged into Saten-chan's body.

The electric shock drew her attention thankfully and Saten-chan looked down at her.

Slowly, her rainbow aura dimmed and the brunette calmed down.

"Thank you."

Mikoto would have given her a thumbs up, if her motor functions were working. Sadly, she'd have to settle for giviing her one later.

"He's bleeding out." Nunotaba-san said dispassionately. Turning around the two Tokiwadai students found her examining Aritomi and kicking him in the ribs.

With a casual wave of her left hand, Saten-chan sent a burst of flames that cauterized the piece of shit's wounds and gave him a whole new set of burns before quickly sputtering out.

"...Should have used salt." Nunotaba-san frowned as she kicked the blistered body once more.

* * *

"Dun dun dun, dun dun dun dun dun dun." Naru hummed to herself as she waited for the time to carry out her latest operation.

 _ **You've watched too many spy movies.**_ The irritated fox in her soul commented, his voice dripping with annoyance.

 _And you didn't enjoy them? I know you laughed at them._

 _ **Because idiocy is a plague as are your tastes. Besides, whether I liked them or not doesn't matter. What does is your incessant humming. Would you please stop that!? You've been at it for an hour!**_ The demon roared. _**It's driving me insane!**_

 _Really? Meh, I'm just bored._

 _ **Then bring a GameBoy next time.**_

 _What century do we live in? Am I a peasant? I've got a Switch dammit._

 _ **I don't care! Just play that the next time you get bored on a stakeout.**_

"No can do. Mission time."

 _ **All of my hate.**_

"Love you too fuzzybutt."

 _ **Argh. Oh thank the Sage, the building's finally closing up for the night.**_ The fox noted eagerly.

Focusing back on the STUDY Corporation Headquarters that she'd been staking out for the last hour or so, Naru found that her tenant was correct. It seemed the last of the staff who had been working overtime had finally clocked out for the day. Already she could see the building's security beginning to lock it down for the night.

 _Perfect. Now that the civilians are out of the way, it's time to get to work._

 _ **Finally.**_

While the other Level 5s in the Trinity were willing to walk right into a trap, Naru wasn't that foolish.

There was no way she would remain idle while STUDY was still in working order. She wasn't like Mugino who'd work only for profit.

Nope. Naru was going to do what she did best.

Make some noise.

Smirking in anticipation, she took a few steps back before breaking into a run. At the lip of the roof she had been spying from, with a little help from a smidge of chakra, she pulled off a Olympics worthy leap that had her landing on top of STUDY's headquarters.

Looking around to make sure she wasn't spotted, she snuck across the dimly lit roof to the staircase leading down into the building.

"It's locked." She scoffed as she eyed the scanner built into the door handle. "Like that's gonna stop me."

Enhancing her strength with her chakra, she turned the door handle hard enough to rip it out of the door.

"I hope this isn't the standard security around here or I'm going to complain to Aleister."

 _ **Uh… You do realize you've probably just tripped the silent alarm with that stunt?**_

"Oh, without question. I _want_ them to know I'm here." Naru said as she used chakra to race into the building in a blur.

She headed unerringly towards the server room that was her target. She ran past a couple of guards along the way, probably headed up to check what had happened up on the roof, but she sped pass before they could so much as point their torchlights in her direction.

As she reached her destination, she found that a security bulkhead had dropped down to block the door.

"Aw, that's adorable. It's not even a ton."

 _ **If you kick it in, they'll know where you are and swarm you.**_

 _What part of that being the plan do you not get?_

 _ **Just saying is all.**_

With a smirk, Naru pulled her leg back and with a chakra enhanced kick she blew a hole right through the thick reinforced security bulkhead and the door behind it that defended the server room.

"Hello beautiful. Mm, you are just going to pop." She said playfully as the security alarms begin ringing in the background.

Sauntering over to a terminal, she pulled up a data drive and plugged it in.

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle." The blonde said with a victorious smirk as the preloaded programs her research team had provided began doing their jobs and stripmined the servers of every byte of data they contained.

 _ **I still can't wrap my head around how something that can fit in your pocket can store all the data that normally needs a whole room to contain.**_

"Age of the geek. Plus Ruiko-chan's damn generous with the Dark Matter lately. The data storage manufacturers practically worship the ground she walks on."

"Halt!" "Stop right there!" "Hands in the air!"

Naru turned around, her hands in the air to face a squad of security guards armed with pistols leveled at her. "Oh no! I've been caught! You guys wouldn't hurt a cute widdle girl would you?"

The guards responded by firing a warning shot over her head.

"Stay where you are and don't even think about using any powers you might have." The guards' apparent leader ordered.

"...Wow. Chivalry is dead. Maybe you should be too?" Naru said, her blue eyes narrowed dangerously.

 _ **Let me handle this.**_

 _What? Why?_

 _ **You almost drove me crazy earlier, you owe me.**_

Naru was tempted to argue, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. She didn't want to waste time with these paid by the hour rent-a-cops anyways. Besides, maybe letting Kurama stretch his legs a little would make him less of a nuisance for awhile.

"Meet my furry little friend."

 _ **I'm ignoring that.**_

Around her navel, bubbling red chakra seeped out.

"Fire!"

Multiple bullets bounced off the rapidly coalescing mass of demonic chakra in front of her body, leaving Naru perfectly unharmed.

" **For thousands of years I have laid dormant! Who dares...Naru. Why?!"** Kurama's usually deep voice squeaked in reflection of his current size which left him no bigger than an average fox. Though with his multiple tails fanned out behind his rump and his red eyes settled into a seething glare, there was nothing average about him at all.

"You know you have a size limit unless I have the okay."

" **Whatever, I'm still gonna enjoy sucking the marrow from your bones foolish mortals!"**

"No killing. Sempai won't like it."

" **Oh come on! You're killing me here."** The fox whined, even as it slammed its tails into the lead row of guards and sent them crashing into the fellows behind them.

"You mean you can't manage it?" Naru asked tuantingly as she crossed her arms.

" **Fine. Fine. Take all the fun out of this."** Kurama grumbled while conjuring a wall of white hot flames that melted the bullets the guards were firing at him and his mistress into harmless slag.

" **Can I at least have my usual voice?"**

"You're cuter like this though." Naru commented with a smirk.

" _ **Hate**_ **."** The chibified tailed beast shot back as he broke up his wall of flames and sent them hurtling towards the guards as a rain of fireballs that melted their guns and left the men with terrible but survivable burns.

Not that the men seemed to realize that as they either fled or collapsed to the ground crying out in agony.

" **Pussies."**

Naru snorted, covering her mouth with her hand. Just hearing him swear with that cute voice was hilarious.

Their moment of revelry was interrupted however by the arrival of what looked to be STUDY's big guns. A trio of Powered Suits that looked sleeker than the City's standard designs but which still seemed a little overly blocky. Most striking however was their head which had an oversized dome like design and a trio of sensors in a triangular configuration where their eyes should be. Each of them were carrying heavy weapons. One of them was toting a heavy machine gun, another a flamethrower and the last was sporting one of the City's newest creations, a laser gatling.

" **I have been dying to sink my teeth into some chew toys."** Kurama grinned viciously. " **How about we** _ **soften**_ **you up."**

Naru felt the temperature rise several dozen degrees.

So did the Powered Suits seeing as the tanks on the flamethrower guy's back began to rumble and hiss.

Realizing where things were heading the man wielding the flamethrower frantically tried to pull it off, unfortunately he wasn't having much luck. His buddies rushed to help him but before either of them could so much as grab hold of the pack with the tanks, the whole thing exploded.

" **I love watching humans burst into flames. It's so...cathartic."**

"Kurama? Are you a closet pyro?"

" **Not admitting anything."**

"You're not denying it either." Naru replied even as she casually swatted a laser beam to the side with a chakra enshrouded hand. It seemed the other two guards in the Powered Suits had finally recovered enough from the explosion to get back into the fight.

" **Don't label me!"** Kurama growled even as his tails moved through the air like blurs as they swatted the stream of bullets the machine gunner was pouring their way out of the air.

Naru chuckled at his antics, but soon frowned at him.

"By the way, what happened to no killing?" The blonde asked while absentmindedly raising a shield of chakra to absorb the stream of laser beams coming at her.

" **Uh? I got too enthusiastic?"** The fox said defensively as he grew tired with swatting flies and sent a pair of his tails to literally rip the machine gun out of the guard's hands. That this also pulled them right off the man's body even though he was wearing a Powered Suit, didn't bother either the demon or it mistress.

Naru just sighed. "Let's hope Sempai never finds out about this then. She'll whine my ears off if she ever does."

" **Stop babying her already. She's whiny as is."**

"I guess it takes a tsundere to understand a tsundere."

" **...Excuse you and your entire race?"** Kurama asked as he tore off the leg from the last combat effective guard's Suit, he made sure to keep the man's leg attached to his body this time. Nevertheless, the force involved had pulled the limb right out of the hip socket and as the man collapsed onto his back, it hung limply from his body.

The hall was filled with the screams of the injured and dying, but Naru and Kurama both ignored it with the ease of practice.

"I think we did a good job." Naru noted as she pulled out the data drive from the terminal, its task completed.

" **We? You mean me. Hmph!"** Kurama huffed as he turned away from her.

"Come on you, back to your happy place." Naru said, her arms open wide as if waiting for a hug.

" **All my hate."** The fox hissed under his breath as he jumped into her arms, his form dissipating mid leap into raw chakra that flowed back into his host's body.

"Well that's over with. Time to head home." The blonde said as she began whistling a happy tune and heading back up to the roof. She could have headed down and walked out the main entrance, but that made the chance of running into more guards or maybe even Anti-Skill higher. She wasn't really in the mood for that, so going back up was the best option.

Naru was just exiting the stairwell onto the roof, when Misaka-Sempai jumped down in front of her.

"There you are." The electromaster hissed in annoyance. "Come on we need to go now, before the guards find us."

Kurama chuckled darkly in the depths of his seal.

"Uh, sure. Yes. Guards." Naru nodded as her Sempai grabbed onto her arm and the two leapt to a neighboring building. The blonde noting with a frown that the electromaster's powers seemed to allow her more range and maneuverability in her jumps than her chakra gave her.

"Why did you even pull a lone wolf stunt like this, anyways?" The chestnut haired girl asked accusingly. "Especially after all the stuff you told me about not doing things like this during the Level 6 Shift?"

"Who said anything about being a lone wolf?" Naru shot back. "Ruiko-chan planned this with me. I was the distraction, while she tore through their systems."

Showing off the data drive she'd filled up earlier, she continued.

"I even snagged some of the data from their off the grid servers."

Sempai blinked in confusion as they began leaping from building to building and making distance from STUDY's headquarters.

"When the hell did Saten-chan get the time to set this up? She was with me the whole afternoon attacking the lab in District 17!"

"She has like seven brains going at once in that head of hers. She's a super multitasker. I thought you knew this already?" Naru asked mockingly. "I mean it's how she manages to emulate multiple powers at a time?"

"I honestly forgot that's part of her powers."

"And this is why she rarely shows it off other than using it for multi abilities at once." Naru observed. "It makes people underestimate her."

"Yeah, so she's smart to do that." Mikoto-Sempai conceded. "But why not just tell me about this raid?"

"Would you have agreed with us breaking into someone's lab without any evidence of wrongdoing?"

 _Not to mention how much you would've crimped my style._ Naru didn't add, knowing how much the older girl would disapprove if she ever learned about the bloodbath she'd left behind her. An observation that earned her another dark chuckle from Kurama.

"But I could have helped." Her Sempai sternly insisted. "And we caught their boss totally being a villain this afternoon anyways."

"And that's why you're here. Ruiko-chan subtly leaked the plan without spelling it out to you."

"Huh?"

"She told you that I'd be doing something rash at STUDY tonight didn't she?"

A look of understanding crossed her Sempai's face.

"I hate how you two play me sometimes…"

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless as always.**

 **Man, what a hell of a chapter. We see infiltration and total demolition from the Level 5s. Or at least Naru and Saten. And secret character Kurama. It was nice to let him out and play.**

 **Nameless: So here we see Saten's weakness on the info gathering front. She can ferret out tons of info but isn't very good at drawing connections. Basically if you give her a target to research, she'll give you every damn thing on the subject that she can find. However, if you presented her seemingly disparate data points and expect her to draw the connections she's not exactly the best person to turn towards. Thank goodness she's friends with people like Shirai and Uiharu who are excellent at doing just that.**

 **Yep, it takes a good group of friends to point out the obvious at times. I know that feeling.**

 **Nameless:** **So this chapter (and a to a lesser extent the preceding one) really exposes how different Saten and Naru still are versus the rest of their friends, didn't it. While they're actively toning down their tendency towards murder, it's a work in progress. The brutal ways they dealt with their enemies at the tail end of this chapter just proves it. Will they ever finally become 'normal'? You guys will just have to wait and see.**

 **Ah, carnage. I can just see them bathing in the blood of their enemies, until Mikoto ruins their fun/mayhem. Lousy sempai that she is XP.**

 **Nameless: Ok, so just to help with your visualizations here's some links for the Powered Suits that appear in this chapter. The majority of the Powered Suits used by STUDY are the City's standard MPS-79 and HsPS-15 (Large Weapon) models, see the wiki for some screencaps of them (toarumajutsunoindex. wikia wiki/ Powered_Suit). The custom models that Naru fought in their headquarters were ones they specially designed for their security detail and are basically ATM-09-SA Scopedog IIs (www. Mahq mecha/ votoms/ atvotoms/ atm-09-sa. htm) from VOTOMs. Meanwhile, the kitbash Powered Suit built on the spot by Saten was the MSJ-06II-SP Tieren Taozi (gundam. Wikia wiki/ MSJ-06II-SP_Tieren_Taozi) from Gundam 00.**

 **You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Twenty Six: Boisterous Party**

 **Beta:**

* * *

Mikoto walked into the Judgement 177th Branch Office alongside the Usagi to find everyone waiting for them. Literally. Nunotaba-san and Kurozuma-san she could understand, the former was intimately tied to the incident and the latter worked as a grunt for her two troublesome kohai. Heck, she could even see why Awatsuki-san, Wannai-san and Kongou-san were there, they'd been involved for some time now. What had left her incredulous was the fact that Kiyama-sensei, all of Saten-chan's siblings _and_ Haruue-san was there too.

"Did _everyone_ know about this night time raid but me?" Mikoto whined.

Most of them, thankfully shot each other confused looks. Unfortunately for the [Railgun]'s self-esteem, Saten-chan had to pipe up.

"Not the specifics, but I did inform everyone that you and Naru-san would be on a mission."

The Number 5's head sparked in annoyance.

"You sent me on a mission without giving me giving me any details at all!"

It was Saten-chan's turn to blink in confusion.

"I just told you to pick Naru-san up because she was running late." Turning to address the blonde, the info broker demanded. "What did you do?"

"Might have been a little more noisy with my distraction than I'd planned."

"How noisy?"

"Just roughhoused some of their security, nothing major."

"That's not the point!" Mikoto shouted. "Why didn't you tell me that you two were going to raid STUDY's HQ?"

"Does it matter right now? We have other things to do, Sempai." The Usagi said flippantly.

"Besides you were stressed out enough after the attack on the factory, I didn't want to overburden you." Saten-chan added with a nod.

"Oh! For the love of science!" Mikoto hissed in exasperation as she walked forward and bonked her idiot kohai on her head. "Look, I'm your Sempai and can handle a little overwork. So next time when you need to go do stuff like this, let me know."

Spinning she pinned Namikaze with a look as well. "You too."

Both Dark Siders exchanged a look before giving her a reluctant nod.

"Now that that's settled, let's get this meeting started alright." Konori-sempai said stepping to the head of the large group of people in her workspace. "Everyone up to speed with what we've worked out so far?"

"Actually, whatever happened to Aritomi?" Mikoto asked, recalling that she'd lost track of the man after Saten-chan had her Powered Suit golem carry the man out of the factory. She had been so preoccupied with rushing over to Heaven Canceller's hospital alongside her fellow Level 5 and Nunotaba-san with the data they'd retrieved to have him immediately begin synthesizing more of the poison neutralizer that Febrie needed, that she'd almost completely forgotten about the unscrupulous scientist altogether.

"Anti-Skill has already proven to be compromised. The fact that they've confiscated all the useful evidence from the first two attacks proved as much." Saten-chan explained. "I contacted my backer and she has arranged for us to use some of her personal forces. He is being detained by them and recovering from… tripping."

"Is that what we're calling it?" Mikoto deadpanned.

"Yes."

"You didn't torture him too badly I hope, Rui-chan?" Shinoda-san asked her sister.

"Considering what he's done to Febrie-chan, I think Rui-nee should have just killed him." Izumi-san said angrily. Many of his siblings seemed to agree with him. It seemed that the young Chemicaloid hadn't just won over Saten-chan but her whole household. The girl was certainly well championed.

 _Is her ability moe-ism or something?_ Mikoto couldn't help but think.

"No, he's more useful alive at the moment. Sadly." Saten-chan informed her brother with a pout.

"Why is my family such a murderous bunch?" Edasaki-san said with a put upon shake of her head.

"We did all get put through hell because of a mad scientist." Kiyama-sensei chimed in. "That it has had an impact on our morals shouldn't be a surprise."

The telepath's shoulders sagged at that and Haruue-san patted her arm consolingly, before trying to change the topic for her best friend's sake.

"Kiyama-sensei, how's the progress with making more of Febrie's lollipops?"

"The first batch should be ready by morning." The scientist assured them, earning sighs of relief from everyone.

"As heartening as that is, it does not mean we're out of danger. Even if Aritomi is out of the equation, STUDY will continue on. It was the plan all along." Nunotaba-san stated. "Come tomorrow, the entire CIty will be at risk."

"How's it going to happen?" Namikaze asked the dead eyed girl.

"STUDY's means of attack will be to use Febrie's sister, Janie, and her Diffusion Ghost ability, to control a large number of Powered Suits in a coordinated attack." Nunotaba-san bit her bottom lip, a nervous look on her face.

"...That could cause an untold amount of damage. Security bots, Powered Suits, and whatever are everywhere in the City. If they all went rogue…"

"Holy shit! A whole bunch of those running amok will be a huge problem." Kurozuma-san said, his fist clenched in a white-knuckled grip. "A lot of people could get hurt."

"It is a major threat." Saten-chan agreed. "Thankfully, Diffusion Ghost can only give out primitive commands to objects it control. This means the attackers would consist of nothing more than a easily picked off rabble."

"A heavily equipped rabble." The former Skill-Out informed her. "And numbers are a thing too. This ain't gonna be a walk in the park."

"Kurozuma-san is correct," Kuroko added, looking worried. "If nothing else the Powered Suits will be superhumanly strong and durable."

"Do we have the numbers to handle something like that?" A pale Wannai-san asked.

"Don't worry, everyone, I've got it handled." Konori-san said with a reassuring smile. "I'll make a few calls."

"It can't be to Anti-Skill," Kuroko said looking cross. "I tried calling up Yomikawa-sensei for help earlier. Unfortunately, she's been suspended from her Anti-Skill duties. Worse, she said that most of the equipment used by Anti-Skill is now provided by STUDY Corporation itself, meaning that they aren't willing to do anything against the company."

That left almost everyone uneasy. Hearing that the City's security force was in the pocket of a corporation bent on its destruction was liable to make anyone wary. Though Kurozuma-san and Kiyama-sensei's unsurprised looks were unsettling in their own ways.

"Don't worry," Konori-sempai reassured her subordinate. "That wasn't who I was talking about in the first place. I'm just gonna call up some friends of mine."

Mikoto didn't see how that would help any, but the Usagi and Saten-chan seemed to.

"I'll call up some friends too. You'll do the same, Ruiko-chan?"

The Number 3 nodded, a vicious smirk on her face. Mikoto was a little unnerved by that, just who exactly was the [AIM Sovereign] gonna call in? She'd bet it was some Dark Side group, but who exactly. Whoever it was, the [Railgun] didn't think she wanted to know.

If they were anything like her siblings, who were looking very bloodthirsty at the moment. She pitied any STUDY goon who had the misfortune of running into them.

"Most of you aren't gonna be doing any fighting."

 _Or not._

"What?" "Sensei!" "That's not fair!" "Rui-chan gets to fight, why not us?"

"Most of you are Level 2s at best and have little to no combat ability. Besides, you all just came out of rehab. Do you want to end up in the hospital all over again?"

That earned many grumbles of acceptance.

"Can Banri-chan help me at least?" Saten-chan asked her mother.

The scientist considered this for a moment.

"Very well, if she agrees. I take it you need Haruue-san's help as well?"

Saten-chan nodded and turned to the two telepaths who exchanged a glance before nodding in agreement.

"Then the rest of you will help keep me company in the lab while I finish up the production of Febrie's lollis." Kiyama-sensei decreed with motherly authority as she eyed her brood.

"Hai!" The group groaned.

"With that settled, then let's start planning how to wreck STUDY's plan." Namikaze said eagerly. "With everyone pitching in, they'll crumble like a wet sand castle."

Mikoto looked at her kohai incredulously at her strange analogy, but everyone else just seemed to get caught up in her enthusiasm.

"Even with reinforcements, we likely would still be outnumbered." Nunotaba-san said just as the group was getting psyched up.

"Yeah, but how many Level 5s are going to fight for them?" Namikaze grinned wildly. "Last I checked, we've got three. Plus maybe two more if we play our cards right."

"They do have a large army though," the teen scientist countered. "Uiharu-san, you've gone over the data we acquired from their servers correct? Have you figured out how many Suits we're dealing with?"

"Give me a minute." The hacker said as she typed away at her tablet to pull up the relevant data. "I've not consolidated the numbers, but it looks like they have roughly t-twenty thousand Suits!?"

"Oh. That's actually kind of fun." Namikaze hummed.

"Okay, that might actually be a problem. With that many of them, we would take forever to destroy them all." The info broker said sounding surprised, before palming her face in frustration. "Why did I dismiss them buying all those Suits in the first place?"

"If it makes you that uneasy Ruiko-chan, why not just call up your boytoy? Or are you two still having a spat?" The Usagi asked with interest.

"W-What?!" Mikoto sputtered in shock. To even suggest that!

"Accel is kind of depressed at the moment." The Number 3 said with a blush. "He's not up for doing something like this."

The pigtailed blonde rolled her eyes. "Wonderful. I'll see if Misaki-Sempai can lend a hand. Maybe lure [Meltdowner] into things. She's stupid enough to fall for it."

"Wait." Kiyama-sensei cut in. "And back up. What's this I hear about Ruiko dating Accelerator?"

Mikoto blinked. Kiyama-sensei didn't know?

If the shocked looks of Saten-chan's family and almost everyone else there was any indication, it seemed that the info broker had somehow managed to keep her infatuation with the pseudo albino a secret.

"We'll talk about this later. I promise. But for now, we have more important things to discuss." [Multi-Skill] tried to evade the question.

"No we won't. Explain right now young lady."

Saten-chan looked all around the room, her cheeks turning pink.

"Kaa-san~!"

"Actually, Kiyama-sensei," Konori-Sempai said carefully as she eyed the woman warily. "Saten-san is right. You might want to save the questioning till later."

"...Fine." Kiyama-sensei said, but her tone indicated the conversation was far from over.

"Back on topic," Saten-chan said hastily clearly eager to move away from discussion about her love life. "With the numbers in play, even with more Level 5s, we'll need to make this fight as short as possible to reduce the risk of innocents getting hurt."

"Any suggestions?" Kuroko asked, "Because I can't see anyway to avoid a prolonged fight at this point."

"We need to rescue Janie, the source of STUDY's Diffusion Ghost ability."

"Can you locate her, Saten-san?" Uiharu asked hopefully.

"I've been trying, but have had no luck." The AIM manipulator confessed. "STUDY is masking it somehow."

"They are more than likely dropping Janie into a coma when her ability isn't in use." Nunotaba-san corrected her. "Thus reducing her AIM to undetectable levels."

"She's just being used as a tool." Mikoto gritted her teeth in anger. It didn't matter that she wasn't a 'real' human being. To treat anyone sentient like that? It tore at her deeply.

"Rui-chan, would that really work?" Harada-san asked his sister.

"It might." Saten-chan said with a shrug. "Different people's AIM fields react differently to being unconscious, so I can't say for certain."

"Either way, it just means you can't find her." Kuroko concluded, before turning to Nunotaba-san. "Do you have any clue where she might be?"

The disgraced scientist just shook her head. "If I did, I would've told you already."

"So we'll have to use Febrie-chan's link to Janie-chan to find her." Uiharu-san concluded.

"Link?" Mikoto asked. She hadn't heard anything about any link.

"It's Febrie's ability." Saten-chan explained. "She seems to be able to affect the AIM field patterns of others. So far she seems only able to create interference in their abilities. She also resonates with Janie's field."

"That sounds similar to your own ability, Saten-sama." Kongou-san noted. "How fitting."

Saten-chan looked at the heiress in confusion for a moment, but eventually chose to ignore the comment. She was the only one who seemed confused though, as everyone else had knowing looks.

"Good point Kongou-chan." Namikaze nodded.

"So Febrie-chan and her sister's powers resonate like mine and Erii's?"

"Essentially, Banri-chan. And that's how we're going to find her."

"Won't we have to wait till the attack happens?" Wu-san said looking nervous. "Rui-chan, you'd only be able to detect Janie-chan's AIM when she uses her ability right? So it would be the same for Febrie-chan, right?"

That brought some pause to the Number 3.

"That makes sense. That means we will have to look for her when the fighting begins."

"I'm gonna say it now before you think of doing something stupid. You can't go with Febrie-chan." Namikaze said looking at Saten-chan sternly. "We _need_ your experience at fighting battles like this."

"But-"

"If you're worried about keeping her safe, then I'll take her." Mikoto stepped up. "You might be stronger than me, I'll admit that, but I'm still a Level 5. No one will hurt her while I'm around."

"Last time a stranger took her." Saten-chan coldly reminded.

Mikoto admitted to only flinching a little at that. Still, she stood firm.

"And it won't happen again. Period."

The brunette looked at her searchingly, before reluctantly nodding.

"Fine. Just take care of her."

Their conversation was interrupted as a yellow and white blur sprinted over from the rest area and latched itself onto Saten-chan's right leg.

"Febrie-chan, don't run." Park-san scolded, as she trailed after the younger girl.

She and Fujii-san had been helping their sister watch the Chemicaloid while she slept.

"Febrie want to help too!"

Saten-chan just patted the girl's back and shot a look at Fujii-san as she walked over.

"You heard her. She refused to go to sleep."

"Which meant she overheard practically everything." Park-san added.

"Febrie help! Please Rui-nee!" The adorable blonde pleaded as she looked up at her guardian with her already dreaded puppy dog eyes.

As expected, Saten-chan couldn't say no to that. "A-Alright."

"Yay! Febrie save Janie!"

* * *

The next day as the clock struck noon, at campuses all over the City which were hosting the Academy City Research Exhibition Assembly, various trailers opened up to reveal hundreds of Powered Suits that suddenly came to life and began forming up in infantry formations.

Fortunately, few if anyone was nearby to see this and the handful who were quickly fled. Not all of them who ran however did so solely out of concern for their own safety. Some of them quickly fished out their phones even as they ran to carry out the important task that had been assigned to them.

" _Namikaze-sama, we have enemies inbound."_

"Alright, thanks." Naru said in response to the scout's response.

In order to combat the coming forces, Konori-Sempai had mobilized Judgement who took two zones of defense. She even showed up with a high powered tranquilizer rifle that she'd gotten from who knows where. It was a fancy thing that was designed to use a variety of different bullets, and in this case she'd come packing rubber bullets. They were non-lethal but still packed some punch, hopefully it would be enough to harm the Powered Suits.

 _It's better than nothing, I guess?_ Naru thought with a shrug. At least, Wataru decided to back her up equipped with the latest prototype powered fist. They also had Wannai-san and Awatsuki-chan to help the effort.

Uiharu had set herself up at the other Judgement zone, backed up by a group of three of the City's security robots which she'd used her hacking skills to 'borrow' from Anti-Skill. When Ruiko-chan had found out, she'd gotten a look on her face that had Naru certain that the computing genius would be getting a present soon which packed quite a bit of firepower. For now at least, she had Shirai-san and Kongou-san to make up for the lack in that department.

Naru's own Rabbit Faction had also joined the fray to aid their leader in the defense of one of the target zones. And, after a phone call, the blonde had even managed to get some reinforcements from [Mental Out]'s own faction, though not as many as she would have liked.

"Okay, they're coming." Naru said, her voice raised as she turned to face the various Tokiwadai girls that had heeded her call to arms. "So for the last time, I'm going to remind you that this isn't going to be a game. This is a real fight, so you'll need to take this seriously. Of course if any of you want to leave now, I'm not going to judge you."

Inwardly, Naru would very much judge them and would think them cowardly weaklings. If not for Konori-Sempai insisting on saying all this, the blonde honestly wouldn't have bothered.

At seeing how none who followed her wished to leave, a pleased smile came to her face. This only grew as they began to organise themselves into groups and began taking up positions. With the hasty way they'd been gathered, Naru hadn't had much them to properly set up a command structure so had just appointed people she knew, mainly the other girls who had served at the Alice in Wonderland cafe they'd organised for the Midsummer Festival, to lead various small groups. While it wasn't anywhere near ideal, it seemed to be working reasonably well so far.

Her phone rung again, and Naru quickly pulled it out and answered the call.

"Hello?"

" _My reinforcements have arrived. You can quit worrying now."_ Ruiko-chan's irritated voice said without preamble, before hanging up without so much as a goodbye.

Naru gritted her teeth in frustration. Here she was worrying about her friend and she was being treated like a nuisance?

Ruiko-chan had got in touch with Oyafune Monaka, who had said she would send a small squad of her own forces to join them. At first, Naru had been hopeful that the addition of some professionals in the fray would boost morale. However, as time grew short and the Dark Siders still hadn't made an appearance, the blonde had started to worry.

"I'm going to check on Ruiko-chan." Naru said as she put her phone away. There was no way she was going to leave her friend to fight an army on her own, no matter her moniker.

"Red Queen, you're in charge."

Without waiting for the girl to reply, Naru teleported away to make sure that Ruiko-chan was alright.

She materialized to see dozens of soldiers running around and setting up firing positions behind cover. Some of them were even unloading heavy weapons.

"Wow. This is a first. I didn't think you could get any of your 'fans' to show up." Naru commented as she did a quick headcount. "Heh, I still have more."

At her teasing, Ruiko-chan just shrugged. "Mine are simply qualitatively better."

She gestured to the men and the blonde noted their combat gear, which was adorned with the Number 3's flower symbol, and armed with railgun rifles.

"Ha! I have Level 3s and 4s, they don't need fancy toys."

Just as their playful banter was about to continue, one of Oyafune's gunmen walked up to them.

"Ma'am, we're formed up in the firing line like you requested."

"Very good, Captain." Ruiko-chan told the men. "Are the snipers in position?"

"Lieutenant Ylva reports she just finished setting up."

"Then we need only wait," the Number 3 told him. "Get back to your men, Captain. It won't be long now."

 _A sniper named Ylva? Why is that so familiar?_

 _ **Maybe because it's the bitch who shot you up when we fought MAR?**_

"Great. Her." Naru said, miffed at the mere mention of the sniper who had given her so much trouble. "Mind if I have a word with her later?"

"Feel free." Ruiko-chan said with a shrug.

"Who are these people anyways? I've never even heard of a group like this." Naru asked, worried that this unknown outfit wouldn't be up to scratch and put her friend in danger.

"They're called Maniple. Oyafune set them up recently. She insisted on sending them once I told her what was going on."

"Bullshit! They're wearing your symbol!" Naru refuted pointing at the white flower shaped hairpin that her friend was always wearing.

"I honestly don't know why they're dressed like that." The [AIM Sovereign] said with a shrug. "As part of their cover maybe? Or a joke? Like I said, I honestly don't know."

"Didn't your boss send anyone?" Ruiko-chan asked, sounding curious. "This is quite the major attack. I would've thought he would have sent _some_ backup."

"Nope." Naru said through gritted teeth. "I managed to get through to him on the phone, but all he had to say was that he thought I could handle the situation without his help."

The Number 3 opened her mouth to say something but snapped it shut as the soldiers under her command began opening fire. Spinning to look at what they were shooting at, the two Level 5s spotted a throng of Powered Suits charging straight towards their position.

The attack had begun.

"I've gotta head back. Give them hell." Naru said as she teleported back to her zone.

It was time to teach STUDY the price of picking a fight with Level 5s.

* * *

Ruiko took a calming breath. She was uncharacteristically nervous. Not over the upcoming combat per se but the intense bloodlust she felt as she finally got the chance to fully unload her up till now largely bottled up rage at Febrie's predicament on the ones responsible or at least their pawns. She couldn't afford to allow it to dictate her actions however, not when it could distract her in a fight. So instead she shunted all the emotion into her AIM body which twitched in agitation. Not that there were any nearby AIM sensors to notice.

Once prepared, she placed down down a translucent box directly in front of the firing line that she'd ordered Maniple to set up. As their bullets flew through the box, the rounds accelerated under the influence of the powers she'd unleashed.

A small smile came to her face, pleased by her latest attempt to stack her powers. Ruiko hadn't been sure if this particular technique would be ready in time for this fight, but was glad it seemed to be working fine.

 _The barriers are keeping the gravity fields nestled within well enough. It seems my barrier fixation lately has yielded some results, after all._

Some of the rounds however were accelerated a little too fast, causing them to burn up shortly after they exited her field and long before they even hit their targets due to the increased air resistance.

 _I guess this technique still requires some more refinement._

The first of the accelerated rounds finally hit the Powered Suits. The shots having more penetrating power than they should have, punched through whole ranks of the enemies with a single shot destroying them in the process.

One of the Maniple soldiers whistled as he saw the destructive effect of their latest volley. "And I thought the RRs were deadly."

"Shut it! Don't get distracted." The outfit's captain shouted over the din of the fight. "Or the enemy will pull out something and we won't be ready for it."

As if to prove the point, the ranks of the zombie like Powered Suits shifted and a pack of the Suits that matched the description of the ones Naru-chan encountered in STUDY's Headquarters stepped forward armed with heavy weapons. Most were lugging over machine guns, but worryingly a handful were armed with RPGs and laser gatlings. While the bullets of the machine guns wouldn't get through the gravity box, the light of the lasers certainly could while the RPGs could easily arc over the box.

"Dammit Murphy..." One of the soldiers grunted as the rocket armed Suits fired off a barrage of their payload at Ruiko and her men.

Concentrating, Ruiko focused as she called on another set of her emulated powers. In response, the air above Maniple began to arc with static in a dome of sparking electricity. This new protective barrier intercepted the rockets mid-air and caused them to explode well away from her men.

"Don't worry about their return fire. Just focus on taking them down." The Level 5 instructed.

"Aye, you heard the girl. Keep firing!" The captain ordered.

Unfazed by the failure of their rockets, the Powered Suit horde opened up with their laser gatlings. Ruiko frowned a little at just how many of the weapons that STUDY had acquired. They were some of the City's latest creations and they really shouldn't have so easily fallen into their possession, particularly in these numbers.

Were the Kihara really backing them this much?

Then again, she wasn't exactly going to look a gift horse in the mouth either. For while the weapon was definitely dangerous, it wasn't exactly that efficient. Even with the use of advanced cooling systems and a gatling system to ensure that the barrels didn't fail too quickly, they couldn't last more than a dozen or so shots. As such, after only a couple of minutes the weapon became little more than dead weight until the barrels could be replaced. Considering the replacements weighed quite a bit on their own, it really made the weapon quite inefficient.

That said, while they remained effective the lasers were a big threat. As such Ruiko used Dark Matter to conjure a set of strategically placed mirror walls to deflect the lasers safely away.

"Take out the lasers while they swap out their barrels!" Ruiko ordered.

It proved unnecessary however as Maniple began concentrating their fire on the laser armed Suits before she'd even finished her sentence. Their snipers leading the way by taking out a dozen, or a little over half, of the laser weapons all on their own.

Unfortunately while they were all focused on dealing with the heavy weapons, the melee armed Powered Suits had managed to maneuver themselves into a position where they were now poised to attack Maniple from the sides.

"We're being flanked! Team A and D move in to intercept them!" The captain ordered his men.

"I've got it!" Ruiko shouted as she used a wave of telekinesis to reduce the front ranks of the flanking Suits into scrap.

 _We're going to be overrun at this right. Diffusion Ghost, what a monster of an ability. Well, two people can play at this game, Janie._

Still using her telekinesis she pulled off a few strand of hairs off her head and cut it into smaller pieces. At the same time, she used the scarp she'd created to build her own small squad of Powered Suits in the same model she'd used during the previous day's raid on the factory lab. Slipping in the pieces of her hair that she'd just snipped off before they were finished, she called on her emulation of Janie's Diffusion Ghost and animated the Suits.

Giving them the simple commands to engage and protect Maniple she was satisfied to see that they were doing their job splendidly. They might have been rushed kitbashed constructs but they were nevertheless proving superior to the mass produced Suits used by STUDY. While Janie's pawns moved in a way that was reminiscent of zombies, Ruiko's creations in comparison moved much more fluidly as they weaved in and out of their counterpart's ranks and tore them apart with the axes she'd equipped them with.

"Ma'am, should we be worried that they could be hacked?" One of the soldiers asked her.

"No. I'm in control of them. Just concentrate on taking the enemy out from range, I'll keep them out of melee range." The brunette instructed as she created more and more Powered Suits of her own.

Despite that, the firefight began to become repetitive, more and more of STUDY's Powered Suits popped up as if they were being mass produced on site. But neither Maniple nor Ruiko were worried as they were hardly feeling pressured, as they easily and steadily destroyed the Suits as soon as they got within the sights of their guns.

With the battle in her zone winding down into a attrition grind, Ruiko decided to use her powers to check on the progress of other zones as she went into an autopilot state.

The two Jugdement held zones weren't doing as well as her own. While their more powerful Espers had taken out the few heavy weapons the attackers possessed, the sheer weight of numbers that the Suits still had was still piling on the pressure.

Over at Konori-Sempai's zone, the senior Judgement agent seemed to have abandoned the tranquilizer gun she'd brought with her having finally realized how ineffective it was against the Powered Suits. Instead she'd picked up a broken street sign and was using that as a weapon instead, even as Kurozuma-san watched her back. They were doing an excellent job if the trail of smashed Suits they left in their wake was any indication.

They made quite the 'badass', as Naru-san would say, couple.

The rest of the Judgement agents in the zone weren't doing so well but they nevertheless were still doing a good job at holding the line as it were. Wannai-san and Awatsuki-san were especially effective, they worked together like a well oiled machine, their powers used in unison to great effect to allow them to chalk up a number of kills that rivalled Konori-sempai and her ex-Skillout boyfriend.

 _Things are doing well there, it seems._ Ruiko noted with satisfaction.

Turning her attention away from that zone, she instead keyed into the security feeds for Uiharu's zone.

She found her best friend fighting on the frontlines, using her security robot thralls to knock the Powered Suits over and leave them to the heavy hitters to take out. This usually was Shirai-san who teleported her javelins or whatever she'd laid her hands on into the machines. Either that or Kongou-san who used her Aero Hand to send various heavy items smashing into the downed Suits.

 _Uiharu really needs something with more firepower at her disposal._ Ruiko noted with frown. _She shouldn't need to wait for other people to take out her opponents in a fight._

Even as she mulled the possibilities of what to gift her best friend to enhance her combat abilities, she idly noted how the other Judgement agents in the zone were doing a reasonably good job at fending off STUDY's pawns. In fact, overall they seemed to be doing better than the other Judgement zone for that matter. Though that might have been due to the terrain advantage. Whereas the other zone had chosen to fight in a broad open area, acting on Shirai-san and Uiharu's advice, this group had made use of a set of stairs as a chokepoint and largely negated the enemy's numerical advantage.

 _I wonder how Naru-chan is doing?_ She thought curiously. She wasn't worried. She had full faith in her fellow Level 5's abilities, but still wanted to know how things were going for her.

With that thought in mind, she turned her attention to the Number 2's zone.

* * *

Naru had to admit, things did not start off as well as she thought they would have.

While her zone certainly held the firepower advantage in comparison to the other zones and the mass of Powered Suits, the lack of coordination on her end certainly didn't do the Rabbit Faction any favors.

The blonde Level 5 spent pretty much the whole time protecting her followers rather than destroying the enemy.

Creating an earthen wall to block off a round of gunfire from tearing apart one of her Rabbit Faction followers, Naru ground her teeth as her frustration grew.

"Thank yo-" The girl tried to say, but Naru was already on the move. She launched a gout of fire from her mouth, the white hot flames melting a group of Powered Suits that were flanking some of Misaki-Sempai's girls.

 _What the hell, why aren't combat classes offered at Tokiwadai? At least they aren't screaming like headless chickens._ Naru thought as she panted a bit while she scanned the area to see who needed the most help.

This was why she was a solo act on her missions. If it were just her, she could have cut loose and reaped these robos to high hell and back.

 _Come on, how to turn this around?_

As she pondered this, she lashed out with a bolt of lightning from her fingertips and fried a line of enemies.

Just as she feared she was at wits end, a small idea formulated in her mind. Looking around, the blonde lets out a shout. "Dormice, pull back. White Rabbit back, Mad Hatter up!"

The girls who were dressed in those outfits during the Midsummer Festival took the hint and did as ordered. Mad Hatter, a Pyrokinetic, launched a fireball at a rocket launcher unit, blowing it up and three of its compatriots with it.

Seeing her idea yield results, a grin grew across the pigtailed girl's face. She had taken to this like it was a fight, but it wasn't. This was a battle and that meant if she wanted to win then she needed to provide the girls under her command the leadership they sorely needed, not acting as a champion charging blindly into the enemy ranks.

"Bandersnatch, charge. Jubjub Bird, retreat!" Naru declared as she pointed with her hands.

Bandersnatch, a electomaster that specialized in using magnetism to create a suit of metal armor, tore right through a enemy melee unit.

"Flamingos distract! Gryphon, bombard!"

As she began actively coordinating the girls, slowly but surely the tide began to turn and they began to push the Powered Suits back at last.

Just then however the ground rumbled, catching the blonde's attention as she turned to see some kind of weird machine leaping towards the fight. It resembled some kind of strange cross between a robot spider and a tower that seemed to have been copied directly off a medieval European castle. The base had eight long spider like legs, a large rocket built into its base and a whole set of smaller maneuvering thrusters, while the tower portion was bristling with gun ports and topped by a stubby looking cannon in a turret.

With a earth shaking crash the monstrous Mobile Weapon landed right in the heart of the battle.

Naru pulled out her phone and called her walking encyclopedia of a friend. "Oi, Ruiko-chan. What the hell am I looking at?"

" _It's a group of nerds attempting to recreate an Ork Stompa."_

"Uh…"

" _Just smash it."_

"Now that I can understand." Naru offered a mock salute, knowing the brunette could see it. She'd after all managed to ID the Mobile Weapon.

Speaking of the crime against good design, the damn thing had opened up with the many guns it sported, which revealed themselves to be a mix of machine guns, plasma bolts and conventional cannons. Thankfully, the Tokiwadai students were smart enough to head for cover the moment the walking arsenal made an appearance, with only those with the strongest defensive powers staying back to cover the retreat.

The girls didn't seem to be the crudely designed behemoth's main focus however as it slowly shifted so it could level its main cannon on Naru. As it did, she could feel the electricity surging down the barrel and winced a little.

 _ **Huh? Looks like someone got themselves a mass driver.**_ The demon fox sealed into her noted with some surprise. _**Wasn't that still in the prototype stages?**_

Within a blink, Naru teleported out of its view just as it fired its round. The force of the shot sent the machine stumbling back slightly even as its thrusters burned hard to counteract the recoil.

The round impacted the earth with a massive explosion, leaving in its wake a large crater where she once stood and an equally large cloud of smoke from.

A whistle came from within her mind. _**If that had hit a building, it would have erased it. Looks like they've been making improvements last I checked.**_

 _They still have a long way to go if they want to match up to some real power._ Naru retorted.

 _ **If it's anything, you humans are good at creating destruction.**_

While neither Naru nor her tenant were particularly impressed with the mass driver's firepower, the Rabbit Faction and their allies certainly were if the panicked rush they were in to flee the machine was any indication.

"Can't let that thing fire its main gun again." Naru noted with some annoyance. "With that much firepower it's certain to kill someone. Eventually."

 _ **That and you need to take it out before it scares away your whole army.**_ Kurama said with an unimpressed snort at what he perceived as the cowardice of the running schoolgirls.

Silently agreeing, Naru activated her Panzar Frame. With her hulking form, she rushed at the tower with a fierce tackle. The force of it shook the mobile gun tower. Seeing its advance halted, the Stompa attempted to push back against the Level 5 in a contest of strength, even as it redirected some of its secondary guns to run down fire on her armored body.

Readily taking the challenge, Naru grinned. **"Let's see how well you're made."**

Ignoring the intensifying hail of fire pinging off her Frame's armor, she began to steadily push the ungainly machine back.

" _Damn it! Why won't you just die already!?"_ A panicked male voice that must have belonged to the machine's pilot screamed over its external speakers as the Stompa began to tilt back ever so slightly.

" **Sorry, but I've got better things to do."** Naru told the pilot. **"This is taking too long. So take this!"**

With a roar, Naru had the pistons built into the forearms of her Frame pull back before slamming them down hard into the Mobile Weapon.

" **[Double Sudden Impact]!"**

The forces unleashed by Naru's attack was devastating and utterly disintegrated a large chunk of the Stompa's entire front. This included half of the thing's legs and tilted it even further back.

In the face of the force of her attack and the lost of so many of its limbs, the unstable gun tower toppled backwards. As it did, Naru came into full view of the giant rocket in its base.

" _Burn, you monster!"_ The pilot screamed as the rocket activated and washed Naru with flames.

" **Okay, now you are just being desperate."** Naru sighed and marched through the flames.

The thick hands of her Frame gripped the edges of the booster and with a grunt, promptly ripped it off in one shot. She didn't stop there though and proceeded to continue to tear into the rest of the machine.

It wasn't difficult for her and soon the Level 5 had torn her way into the cockpit.

Seated there were two tall and slender bespectacled men. One had short spiky dark brown hair, while the other had his lighter brown hair combed and parted at the left side of his head. They were scuffled up, and sported some injuries from the fall.

" **Hello victims. How ya doin'?"** Naru said with a smile from within her Frame.

Her ears picked up a faint trickling noise as the two shook with fear.

" **Aw...gross."**

* * *

"Is Rui-nee going to be okay?"

"Of course. She's strong after all." Mikoto answered Febrie who was secured on her back. The two were running towards STUDY's base of operations.

"Naru-nee and everyone else?"

"Definitely. They are all strong too." The electromaster said as she stopped on top of a skyscraper and tried to get her bearings. "So where to now, Febrie?"

The little girl closed her eyes for a moment before pointing towards a sports stadium that was barely visible a couple blocks away.

"It's over there! Janie's there!" The blonde said with excited confidence.

"Alright, hold on tight!" Mikoto declared as she headed towards the stadium.

 _So we're almost there. Walking right into the enemy's base._ Mikoto thought to herself nervously. _Whatever danger is there, I better make sure nothing happens to Febrie. It was hard enough to convince Saten-chan that with her experience fighting armies she was needed to help lead the defense. I really don't want to see what she'd do if something did happen to her little girl._

Especially after the only reason she's not here was because everyone was unanimous in vetoing her when she suggested it.

 _Probably because nobody wanted to give her the chance to lose her cool like she did when she encountered Aritomi._

As she leapt into the arena of the stadium, she shelved her thoughts for the time being.

"Now what?"

"Give me a minute, Mikoto-nee." Febrie knitted her brow, concentrating. Her twin ahoge bouncing as she pointed to the far exit. "There! There!"

"Right let's go."

It seemed that STUDY was not going to make it easy for them though, as suddenly Powered Suits swarmed out of every conceivable entry way into the arena to stop her.

"Do they honestly think this'll stop me?" Mikoto snarled as she used her electromagnetism to rip dozens of the wrenches the Suits were using as melee weapons out of their hands and slammed them back into their owners, wrecking them.

Even as the fight began in earnest, the stadium's big screen displays came to life and revealed a chubby bespectacled male wearing his black hair as a bowl cut who was dressed in a lab coat over a buttoned-up collared shirt and pants, both blue-green in color.

" _Do not underestimate the quality of quantity, [Railgun]."_ The man who Mikoto recognized as Sekimura Hirotada, a member of STUDY's Board of Directors and apparently its interim leader, said with with a veneer of confidence. Though the sweat on his forehead made clear just how nervous he truly was.

Mikoto just snorted at the man's taunt and took out another dozen Suits by forming hundreds of Iron Sand bullets on the arena floor and firing them into the machines' undersides.

" _Hiro-kun! The Suits are being taken out too quickly across the board! At this rate they'll all be wiped out in ten minutes!"_ A female voice shouted to Sekimura from somewhere offscreen.

The chubby scientist gulped nervously, but quickly composed himself. Or at least as well as he could. He still looked like a wreck to Mikoto, even as she casually used some electromagnetically assisted gymnastics to evade a bum rush by a group of Suits and jump up into the stadium's stand.

" _Don't panic, Jun-chan! We prepared for this, activate the failsafes!"_

* * *

"Huh?" Kazari said as she rapidly typed on her tablet trying to restore control over her suddenly disabled security robots and the communications network. "We have a problem! Our comms are down!"

The nearby Judgement officers heard this and began to worry. If that were the case, their coordination would deteriorate significantly. This might not be a problem in the zones with the heavy hitters but for the members of the student-based law enforcement organization this was a major blow! With their generally low Levels, the only way the Judgement agents had been able to keep the Suits at bay had been by coordinating their efforts. If this was compromised then they wouldn't stand a chance.

 _Don't worry, Uiharu-san_. Edasaki-san's voice said reassuringly into Kazari's mind. _Ruiko-chan planned for this. Erii and I, along with the rest of the telepaths have this covered._

Suddenly a telepath nearby began barking orders, startling Kazari. She however quickly got the picture.

"The telepaths are substituting for our comms?" The computing genius asked rhetorically even as she began to heed the orders.

 _Hehe! STUDY already showed they could hack into the City's electronics. So, of course they would try something while attacking. Good thing Ruiko-chan prepared for it!_ Banri-san giggled through the telepathic link.

 _C-Counterattack is a go!_ Haruue-san meekly cheered.

 _But how do you all have the range?_ Kazari thought back. _Most telepaths have very limited range don't they?_

 _Did you forget Erii and I can boost our Level if we resonate our AIM fields?_ Edasaki-san said smugly. _Ruiko-chan helped us with that and now we're the nerve centre for our own little telepathic switchboard._

Kazari couldn't help the pout that spread across her face at the realization that her best friend had kept yet another secret from her.

 _Cheer up, Uiharu-san. Ruiko-chan has always been like that. She likes her big reveals._

 _I know, it just so… Just, mmh… She can be so t-trying!_ Kazari thought back with long simmering frustration at Saten-san's antics.

 _Tell me about it._ Edasaki-san said empathically.

* * *

"Ha!" Mikoto shouted as she took out another dozen Powered Suits with a particularly powerful electric bolt. STUDY had hardened the damn things just to make her life difficult and so she was forced to hit them with bolts three times her normal output just to short them out.

It was a big reason why she was panting, and sweat trickled down her face. The Suits were proving tougher than she expected and as such the fight was dragging on, exhausting her in the process.

She wasn't going to back down though, not with Febrie burying her face in her back so as not to see the 'scary robots'. The damn things had scared the girl and Mikoto was going to pay them back for that.

Clutching Febrie's legs tighter, she looked around. The row upon rows of rows of Powered Suits continued to filter out of the large exits of the stadium.

" _Hiro-kun, the drones just finished the final checks. The Big Z is ready for launch."_ A now much calmer version of the female voice from earlier told the still nervous looking Sekimura, who breathed a sigh of relief at the news.

 _Big what?_ Mikoto thought in a cloud of confusion as she destroyed a trio of Powered Suits.

" _It is? Then send it out already!"_ The man ordered enthusiastically.

There was no reply from the woman, but she must have complied as suddenly the center of the stadium rumbled. Turning to look, Mikoto watched with wide eyes as the Suits shifted to open up a large open space that she quickly realized was over some kind of door built into the arena floor.

 _Shit!_ She cursed and ran to the side as the ground split open. She fished out one of her Dark Matter tokens and was about to flick it, but was forced to abort the attack and jump out of the way as a Powered Suit took a swing at her.

 _They keep getting in the way! I can't get a bead on it._ Mikoto fumed as she lost the token and was forced to focus on protecting Febrie from the press of Suits.

Once the hatch opened, Mikoto looked up as a hulking monstrosity emerged from it. It was easily two stories tall. It had an oblong body that was supported by sturdy two legs that had some kind of cannon muzzle built into the centre of its body, dozens of smaller turrets studded its waist like a belt, a set of six missile tubes were built into its shoulders and it had a pair of forward facing miniguns just below its lone tracked optical sensor.

"Holy cow…" Mikoto blinked at seeing this monster of technology. It looked like it came straight from some anime.

" _How do you like our Big Z, [Railgun]? It's our finest Mobile Weapon. It's even equipped with a particle cannon based on [Meltdowner]'s powers."_ Sekimura boasted.

Despite his obvious pride at his creation's main weapon, the mecha instead opened the fight with a missile barrage. With no way to make it under cover in time, Mikoto hastily released a burst of electrical energy in the form of a makeshift shield. The missiles exploded harmlessly against the shield, but pumping out all that electricity had left the Level 5 winded for a moment.

This was more than enough to allow a whole bunch of Suits to close the distance and start swinging the various oversized tools they were using as bludgeons in attempts to smash her and Febrie's heads in.

"Not on my watch." Mikoto hissed under her breath as she used more of her electromagnetically assisted gymnastics to evade their swings. It was a wild dance as she ducked, rolled and jumped over and under the wild attempts of the Suits to kill her.

Febrie tightened her hold against her vest as she whimpered.

"Back off!" Mikoto roared as she electrically charged the ground and a burst of iron sand shot up to stab at the surrounding Powered Suits.

While she was busy with her wild evasions however the Suits' big brother wasn't idle. Instead, it had been using the time she had been distracted by its lesser counterparts to charge up its main weapon. With the a low hum and the crackling of static, a massive particle beam came barreling towards the [Railgun].

It was the way the way the incoming beam turned the world blue with its awesome glow that had Mikoto turn back towards the Big Z, only for her eyes to widen in horror at the oncoming death ray. Acting on pure instinct, Mikoto brought up her hands. Just before the mighty beam collided with her she seized control of its path with a electromagnetic field and deflected it. The [Railgun] grunted at the power behind it and was forced to use all her strength just to deflect it just barely off to her side. It evaporating part of the stadium along with a few dozen Powered Suits and bathing Febrie and her in intense heat.

The blonde hissed at the sudden temperature even as Mikoto panted from the exertion and tried to recompose herself. The Mobile Weapon wasn't about to give her that luxury.

It leaned forward and opened up with minigun fire and lasers from the turrets along its waist. Hastily throwing up a weak electromagnetic shield she ran for cover knowing full well that she needed time to catch her breath.

 _And I'm not the only one._ The electromaster thought as she noted how the mecha was slowly building up charge for another shot of its main weapon.

As she ran for the cover offered by the backstands she was thankful that the Big Z was being completely indiscriminate in its fire, as thanks to that it was helpfully taking out all the Suits that might have gotten in the way of her run for cover.

 _Maybe I can hide Febrie here?_ Mikoto thought with a twinge of panic as she finally ducked into the relative safety of the halls behind the stands. As soon as the idea came to mind however she shook it off. _No. If I did that a stray blast could hit her. Dammit, okay what else can I do?_

Just as she tried to come up with an idea, a large crash drew her attention. Turning, she saw the Powered Suits coming through other entryways from the stands to get to the pair. Looking at them, Mikoto realized something.

None of the ones pursing her had ranged weapons. Heck, none of them she'd fought so far had any.

Sadly, just as she thought that, a pair of the Suits that Saten-chan had informed them was utilised exclusively by STUDY HQ Security appeared with flamethrowers of all things in hand.

 _Stupid brain. You jinxed us!_

Febrie whimpered at the sight of the two round headed machines and the flickering flames of the pilot lights of their weapons as they leveled them at the duo in preparation to roast them alive.

"Not a chance!" Mikoto declared as she sent them flying with her electromagnetism. They slammed into a wall hard. Hard enough in fact to rupture the fragile full tanks of their weapons and cause them to explode, setting both them and a half dozen of the normal Suits ablaze.

The explosion was satisfying to her, but only for a moment as more Powered Suits took the place of the ones she'd just destroyed.

 _Seriously, where's the factory they're making these things in?_ Mikoto sourly thought as she started to run down the hallway. _We might just have to get out of here and regroup. It's hard enough to get in with Febrie on my back. I can't risk her like this anymore. Saten-chan would kill me if she gets hurt._

An explosion rang in her ears and Mikoto was pretty sure it wasn't her doing. This point was emphasized when they were followed by a dozen smaller explosions and the Suits suddenly turning around to stream back into the stadium, leaving only a few behind to engage her.

"They must be heading out to stop whatever is causing those explosions. Guess I'm not priority one anymore." Mikoto noted with relief as she took care of the last stragglers. "I wonder who showed up though?"

"Check?" Febrie asked curiously. "Rui-nee will want to know so she can repay them."

"Sure." Mikoto agreed. She was curious too, and while she didn't think they were in any real danger she agreed with Febrie that it was only right to repay the favor to whoever had came to help them.

"How are you holding up?"

"Febrie's scared, but knows Mikoto-nee will protect her."

The sweet little vote of confidence made Mikoto feel all fluttery inside.

"Of course!" Mikoto nodded as they exited the tunnel leading back to the stadium.

They were greeted with the sight of Shizuri Mugino and her team duking it out with the Big Z and its legion of supporting Powered Suits. The Number 6 was happily blasting into the hordes of machines while occasionally deflecting the beam cannon or lasers. Kinuhata was walking through the mechanical swarm completely unfazed by any of their attacks and casually tearing apart any machine that stood in her way. From further up on the far stands, she could see the Frenda girl set up in some kind of impromptu artillery position. She was surrounded by dozens of ammo crates of varying sizes from which she was pulling out rockets by the handful and launching them at the throng of STUDY's toys.

They were doing a pretty good job of destroying the whole lot of them too. Already Mikoto could see that the numbers of the Suits which to her had seem endless had noticeably thinned and even the intimidating Big Z was damaged, with a handful of its laser turrets out of commission and its twin miniguns reduced to scrap.

"Looks like we've got a distraction, Febrie." Mikoto smiled over her shoulder. "Let's go and find Janie while they play janitor."

"Help does chores." Febrie nodded in agreement.

"I wouldn't let Mugino hear you say that." A tired voice said, nearly making Mikoto jump out of her socks.

Spinning around she found the track suit wearing Takitsubo Rikou standing behind her looking as lethargic as she always was.

"Geez, put a bell on or something. Give a girl a heart attack..."

"O-kay. Just wanted to say hi and whatever." The perpetually exhausted girl yawned out. "Mugino said to taunt you, but I'm sleepy so I'm going to listen to Frenda and just stop at saying hello. So hello."

Mikoto just blinked at the AIM tracker in confusion.

"H-Hello." Febrie returned in between giggles at the older girl's antics.

 _Febrie, don't respond to the weird girl. It's not good for your health._ Mikoto thought sadly before saying. "Yeah, hi. We'll be going now."

"Sure. Bye." The ITEM member said as she gave them a distracted wave and collapsed into a seat.

 _Are all AIM manipulators insane? I mean there's Saten-chan and now this girl. I really hope Febrie doesn't grow up to be like them._ Mikoto thought to herself worriedly as she watched the girl doze off, even while her teammates were fighting a pitched battle less than a hundred metres away.

* * *

"W-What do we do? [Railgun] has made it past our defenses. We're sitting ducks here!" A female voice said from the STUDY control room just down the hall from where Febrie and Mikoto were. She could hear the panic and worry that must have filled the STUDY control room as she rapidly closed the distance.

"We have our trump card. W-We can win. We'll destroy every last one of them." Sekimura said, his voice barely quivering. "Jun-chan, activate the Silencer!"

She'd heard enough. Using a burst of electromagnetism as a boost, her running speed doubled and she closed the distance to the control room in seconds.

"I don't think so!" Mikoto roared as she unleashed a powerful electrical surge that blew the door to the room open while shocking Sekimura. It however completely missed the girl with short brown hair styled in a bowl cut and long fringes that cover her eyebrows as she pressed a ominous looking red button on the console on the far side of the room.

"Y-You're too late, Esper. We win! W-We won!" The proxy leader laughed as he slid down and twitched in pain.

"Dammit, what did you do?" Mikoto rounded on the girl, Jun presumably, and marched up to her in a threatening manner.

The older girl cowered under the intimidating gaze that the Level 5 brought to bear against her and quickly spilled the beans.

"We activated the weapons on the Endymion orbital elevator we covertly installed using the construction drones we provided." The young woman said, her knees knocking as she tried to look brave.

"Not just that!" Sekimura chimed in, as he recovered enough to speak properly. "We armed those drones too. There's enough firepower inbound to level the City and that's not even the best part!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Janie!" Febrie whispered in horrified realization.

Mikoto however was still clueless, thankfully the STUDY idiots were in a generous mood and quickly filled her in.

"All that firepower is only a screening action." Sakurai said, eying Mikoto warily. "The real weapon is a missile with 5,000 filaments of Janie's hair. It will detonate over the City and disperse them all over, where they will be used as a transmitter for her ability. We'll use it to cause a fission chain reaction of all AIM Diffusion Fields in Academy City."

"That'll kill everyone!"

Febrie whimpered at that and buried her head into Mikoto's shoulder.

"Yes," Sekimura agreed, while Jun nodded. "And since all you Espers are here, it would render your kind extinct! Then the genius of non-Espers like us will finally be recognized once more!"

"You're insane!" Mikoto spat even as she dug through her pockets, she needed to call the others and come up with something to stop this apocalypse from happening.

As soon as she did however, she saw that she had a message. One that made her realize that everything was going to be alright.

[Incoming orbital bombardment. Don't worry, follow my instructions and everything will be alright. Saten Ruiko.] - Saten-chan

* * *

Ruiko was quite happy with the progress of the battle so far, all the zones had settled into a winning battle of attrition. Even the Judgement zones which had her worried for a bit had settled down as the enemy's seemingly endless reserves had started to dry up. Febrie-chan and Mikoto-Sempai's situation was even better as ITEM had showed up unexpectedly to help her. Ruiko had suspected the prideful [Meltdowner] wasn't about to let the slight STUDY had done her go that easily, but had not foreseen her intervening at quite so fortuitous a time for them.

 _It's almost like someone planned this._ Ruiko thought suspicious of the apparent coincidence and looking in the direction of the Windowless Building warily.

She was pulled from her thoughts of a possible conspiracy when the alerts she'd set up in the City's satellite network began triggering one after the other. They had been installed as part of an effort on her part to give herself and by extension her loved ones warning of any incoming large scale external threats to the City, before the authorities deemed it necessary to inform the masses. It was a paranoid thing to do, but considering every second could count in such situations Ruiko thought it a prudent precaution.

And as she processed the data on what had triggered the alerts, she felt thankful she'd been so paranoid.

With a burst of electromagnetism and telepathy she sent out a message to all allied forces.

 _And isn't it convenient that the communications network just came back online? Really can't you be a little more subtle, Crowley?_

[Incoming orbital bombardment. Don't worry, follow my instructions and everything will be alright. Saten Ruiko.]

She added more specific instructions as necessary, informing the frontline fighters to continue to focus on the Suits while rotating out anyone with any useful abilities that could help with the defense against the orbital strike.

That was only the work of an instant and in the next she'd teleported over to Banri-chan's side. Her sister startled at her sudden appearance but recovered quickly enough and opened her mouth to speak, but Ruiko cut her off.

"Banri-chan, relay my orders. Naru-san use Festung. Sempai your railgun. Knock down as much of the incoming fire as possible. Everyone with a ranged ability should do the same. Anyone capable of forming barriers are to do so to provide cover."

The telepath blinked a second at the fast paced delivery but nodded and dutifully got to work.

 _The City's anti-orbital defenses should take out most of the fire but with the volume involved, it'll need some help._

"Their targets are the Assembly venues. Forwarding targeting data now." Ruiko said before rattling off as much data on the incoming attack as possible telepathically to Banri-chan, the method allowing for a far more rapid transfer of information.

That done, she moved on to the next phase of the operation, she continued issuing orders by supplementing her verbal instructions with detailed instructions via telepathy. "Barrier users create interlocking barriers over the targets. Use the following pattern."

 _This isn't anywhere near dangerous enough to be STUDY's trump card. They have to know the City's defenses can handle this, even if imperfectly. So what-_ Ruiko's thoughts were interrupted as she noticed in the satellite feeds how one particular missile was almost being shielded by the rest of the barrage. _What's with that missile? Diffusion Ghost's AIM is spiking it! If that thing hits! Shit!_

"Ruiko-chan! Namikaze-sama is saying she needs better targeting data." Banri-chan said sounding just a tinge hysterical. "Everyone is. What do I tell them?"

 _I can't help them. I need to counter that AIM weapon._

Just as Ruiko was at her wits' end, her phone rang. Reflexively she answered without even looking at who was calling.

" _Do not worry Ruiko-sama, the Misaka Network will handle coordination, Misaka informs with confidence. Just hand the phone over to Edasaki-san and we will handle the rest, Misaka reassures."_

Relief filled the Level 5. The computing power of the Sisters' network would be more than enough to take over calculating the data needed to coordinate the defense.

"Banri-chan, here." Ruiko said as she shoved her phone into her sister's hands. "They'll give you the numbers. Just have everyone follow their orders!"

"H-Hai!" Her telepathic sister said as she hesitantly put the phone to her ear.

 _Alright, just focus. You can do this. You're the [AIM Sovereign]. Like hell this is going to stop me!_

As she applied her power over the City, her awareness expanded and she 'saw' as everyone jumped into action to protect their beloved home. As much as she could see anything when she was looking on without eyes but through the strange senses of her AIM body.

She ignored how the City's automated defenses: interceptor missiles, anti-aircraft cannons, and anti-orbital particle weapons came online and began taking down the bulk of the incoming fire.

Instead she watched through her esoteric senses how Naru-san, Sempai and hundreds of Espers with ranged powers opened fire under the direction of the Sisters and began to shoot down more of the barrage of STUDY's kinetic and energy weapons. This translated into one large rainbow of destruction aimed for the heavens and it clashed with the orbital attack in a way that lit up the sky in a blanket of explosions.

At the same time, as many others used their powers to raise a checkerboard of different barriers to create protective domes over the Assembly venues. These protected thousands of innocents within from the dozen of stray shots that slipped through the interception fire unleashed by the City's combined defenders.

Only a fraction of her mind was focused on observing this though, as the bulk of her formidable computational power was instead focused on negating the effect of Janie's Diffusion Ghost as it tried to disrupt the collective AIM field of the City and cause an immense Poltergeist that would likely level the whole of the Japanese Islands.

 _Janie must be immensely strong or whatever amplifiers STUDY has her hooked up to must be, because this feels like the time I had to push a building without super strength._ Ruiko idly mused as she struggled against the Chemicaloid's power. _Ugh. I just_ had _to remember how that felt didn't I? Curse Gensei for his sick experiments._

Despite her apparent levity, the stress of what she was doing was immense and she felt her body break out into a sweat even as her breathing steadily grew more laboured. Her vision both natural and esoteric dimmed as she was forced to shift ever more computational resources to the fight. She was isolating each one of the thousands of Janie's hairs that were in the City, not just in the missile but among the countless Suits used in the attack and destroying them one by one, denying their use as transmitters for her powers.

Blood began to trickle from her noseand Ruiko turned away from Banri-chan to avoid alarming her sister, even as the strain ricoheted up another notch. Things got harder as more and more of the hairs were destroyed as the Chemicaloid's power became more focused on each individual hair making it harder to isolate.

 _Damn! They must must be turning up the amplifiers._

She was blind and deaf by this point as she fully transferred the processing power for such to the contest of strength. At the same time, she felt dimly how the trickle of blood from her nose steadily grew into a small river.

 _Should have activated Chrysalis Mode from the start._ Ruiko bemoaned her lack of foresight as it took everything it had to stop from showing any untoward signs to her sister. It wouldn't do for her to panic now when she was so crucial to coordinating the City's defense.

 _Just a little more!_ Ruiko told herself as the last few hairs were cut off from Janie's power.

"Done!" The Number 3 breathed out in relief.

She was panting heavily, her body having spent every ounce of her energy it had in her effort to stop the AIM bombs. Utterly drained, her legs were the first to give up and the brunette fell to the ground. The hard surface felt like the best pillow in the whole wide world at the moment.

"Ruiko-chan!"

At her sister's frightened cry, Ruiko just closed her eyes.

She was so tired.

* * *

It was late at night in the Tokiwadai Exterior Dormitories and Kuroko was sitting down to write in her journal at the end of a long day that saw the culmination of what was one of, if not the most, demanding cases she'd ever handled as a member of Judgement.

26/08/20XX

The matter of the STUDY Incident has finally been settled. The fact that no casualties occurred on both sides was the most surprising outcome of the battle. Of course there were injuries, but the fact most made it out unscathed was a miracle.

Though Saten-san gave us all a scare at the end there. What is with that girl nearly killing herself after major battles? This is the second time and in just as many battles too. Is this going to be a trend, because if it is I don't think my heart can take it. Seeing her lying there in Edasaki-san's arms, her clothes stained red by her blood and unconscious was terrifying! Uiharu was beside herself. Next time someone needs to be next to her to make sure she doesn't do stupid things.

And it better not be Kiyama-sensei. I almost teleported over to her and punched that woman when she'd just told us over the phone to leave _her daughter_ alone and let her heal using her regenerative powers. I know it was the logical thing to do, but damn it that woman could've sounded a little more worried.

I'm just grateful Febrie didn't see anything. Saten-san having woke up and cleaned herself up before the little girl got there. The little blonde had been through enough trauma. She didn't need to see her mother figure look like an extra from a horror movie.

All that aside, in the end the biggest harm was that the Research Exhibition Assembly was delayed due to STUDY's little Silent Party. Yes, it was a stupid name but it was apparently what they'd called their plan. That aside, the delay was truly a small price to pay considering what was at stake.

As for the investigation into Silent Party, it had "apparently" been tampered with to show the Trinity in a more favorable light. Supposedly instead of showing that they acted like a bunch of vigilantes who acted on their own, they had, officially at least, been acting under the direction of the City's Board of Directors the whole time.

Saten-san and Uiharu had done a great job altering the digital records. While Namikaze-san asked Shokuhou Misaki, the Number 7, to use her powers to brainwash the authorities. Though that proved unnecessary as they had been disturbingly helpful in the whole coverup process, apparently deciding that they wanted a share of the good PR for saving the City despite having done practically nothing. That and they didn't want to be seen as not having total control over the Level 5s.

After the whole thing was over, Onee-sama had finally managed to free Janie, much to Febrie's joy and the two Chemicaloids were brought into Saten-san's home for security reasons. Nunotaba-san had objected at first, citing how the twins would be safer outside the City. That had led to Saten-san laughing in her face.

I honestly had never really seen her laugh before. Giggle, yes. Chuckle murderously, more times than I'd have liked. But actually laugh, never. It might not have been the most appropriate response to Nunotaba-san's worries, but seeing Saten-san react like that was incredibly heartening.

The high schooler was thankfully not offended either, especially after Namikaze-san explained to her that Saten-san would rather die than let anyone hurt the girls and that there were few places safer for them at the moment than under a Level 5's protection. Much less that of the Trinity as a whole. Reluctantly, Nunotaba-san agreed.

Speaking of the formerly disgraced scientist, she had joined the household as well to act as a live-in nanny due to her close ties with the young girls. Officially though, she would be hired as a researcher in Kiyama-sensei's team and enrolled into Kirigaoka Girls' Academy thanks to Oyafune-sama's intervention.

I still can't stand how having people like that as their backers lets Saten-san and Namikaze-san get away so easy with all the crazy stuff they do when it comes to the law, but I guess this time it's for a good cause.

It makes me wonder what else they have done behind the scenes in their Dark Side adventures? Though maybe it's best I never know.

It does make me wonder just how corrupt is Academy City? It makes me sad inside… but at the same time it makes me want to change it for the better.

I wonder if I can do that though.

I know Onee-sama feels the same. Maybe we can work together? Two lovers against the world! It certainly held a romantic feel to it. Though she'd need to work pass her the deep hate for the Dark Side she's developed first. It's gotten to the point I'm thinking it might be irrational. Then I remember what the Dark Side is capable of and realize there's no depths of hatred for it that is excessive.

Out of all of us though it was Namikaze-san whose growth was perhaps most surprising. During the battle, she'd played a large role in directing her Faction. From what I had heard it was a slow crawl at the start before she took initiative and stepped up to take command, apparently turning the tide in the process. She had confessed to us how much harder it was to be a leader then she originally had suspected. Konori-Sempai had told Namikaze-san that while it is indeed hard, it was worth it to help lead your friends succeed. Sempai even offered to give Namikaze-san some tips when she had some off time. She looked very interested in the offer.

Well, I guess that's the summary for today. After all that I really hope we catch a break and there aren't any new Incidents for awhile. I need the vacation.

Kuroko.

* * *

 **Omake: A Day with Febrie.**

Sitting on her bed in her new room at Rui-nee's house, Febrie stared at the tablet in her hands. Her twin ahoge twitching as she pushed the START button on the app she had running.

"Hello, Febrie's diary?" The little blonde whispered into the receiver. "Um, Kuro-nee gave me this. She said Febrie should keep track of things. Like how my day was. Febrie doesn't get it, but she'll do her bestest!"

She nodded firmly.

 _Febrie is being so re- rez- spoonsible? Right, rezspoosible! Febrie was a rezspoosible girl._

Already excited at mastering a difficult word, she was buoyed even further as she watched her words appear on screen.

"My day was good. The sun was pretty, clouds were fluffy and I got to play with Rui-nee today. She's the most mommy-like out of the Nee-chans. She can be stwict but fair. Like during dinner just now, she scolded Kiyama-baba for trying to give me candy for dinner. Febrie doesn't get it. She likes sweets. But Febrie still loves her loads! She's always taking care of me. Making sure I get dressed properly, getting me something to eat when I'm hungry and loads of other stuff too. She's also always there when I need her, even when it's late at night and I get lonely or scared, she lets me and Janie too, crawl into her bed and sleep with her. She's cuddly."

Febrie was interrupted when Kiyama-baba poked her head into her room.

"Febrie-chan, what are you doing?"

"Recording my diary." The little girl replied holding up her tablet.

"Oh, alright." The woman nodded. "When you're done come over to Ruiko's bathroom okay? Janie's almost done and then it's your turn."

"Okay!" Febrie beamed and returned to her diary. "It's time for bubbles soon. Hopefully next time me and Janie can play bubbles together!"

The woman blinked and backed away slowly. "Maybe."

With that Rui-nee's mommy closed the door and left Febrie alone.

"Sorry Diary that was Kiyama-baba. She's Rui-nee's mommy. But it's weird, most of the time it looks like Rui-nee is the one taking care of Kiyama-baba instead, even though Kiyama-baba is the grown up. Febrie doesn't get it."

The Chemicaloid pouted for a long moment as she pondered on the conundrum, before dismissing it for later. She had a diary entry to fill.

"Anyways today Rui-nee took me and Janie to go visit Ui-nee. Shinobu was there too. I missed her but Shinobu was busy lately with school and work and stuff, so she couldn't play as much. But she promised that she'd be more free soon. Me and Janie were really happy to hear that."

As much as Febrie and her sister adored her new family, Shinobu was the first person that had ever been nice to them and neither of them would ever forget that so it was sad to not get to spend as much time with her as they liked. Thankfully, they had many other Nee-chans now to play with too, so it wasn't that bad.

"Ui-nee is weird and talks a lot, but she is really smart and played video games with me. She made Rui-nee get all worked up when she wanted to play Street Fighter with me for some reason. I wonder why?"

The blonder tilted her head in innocent confusion.

"I asked them, but they said they'll tell me when I'm bigger. Febrie is already a big girl, isn't she? Kuro-nee said so when she showed up with Mikoto-nee and tried to get me to try out some strange looking panties. I don't really know why both Rui-nee and Mikoto-nee had to shock her all black for it."

As the image entered her mind, the little girl couldn't help but giggle.

"Nee-chans are funny." Febrie noted. "Mikoto-nee is pretty fun to be with. Though she can be pretty stupid too."

The young blonde's cheeks puffed out in irritation. "She tried to get her Gekota finger back. Again. Even though it's Febrie's now. She even tried to trade Febrie a lesser Gekota! And icy cream!"

 _The shame! How could she think that Gekota could be traded for something so trivial!_

"At least Mikoto-nee's silliness made Rui-nee smile. She's super pretty when she smiles. I wish she smiled more."

The girl sighed wistfully as she tried to imagine why her guardian seemed like a statue so much of the time. Shaking her head to clear it of such thoughts, Febrie got back on topic.

"Still, despite being stupid, Mikoto-nee is pretty cool because she knows how amazing Gekota is. It's the bestest!"

Suddenly Febrie's new phone beeped and the blonde put down her tablet for a bit to check the message she'd received.

[Night Febrie-chan. Had fun today. Let's have more cookies at the park tomorrow! ;) ] - Naru-nee

"Hehehe!" Febrie giggled in excitement and typed out a reply on her phone using the neat little emoticons that Naru-nee taught her all about.

[Hai~! ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ] - Febrie

"That was Naru-nee texting me." The blonde told her diary as she picked her tablet back up. "We're going to have more cookies and play in the park tomorrow. She's the bestest out of all the Nee-chans. We play, have fun, go flying. Janie is scared of high places so she didn't go flying. Still, she finds Naru-nee interesting too. Seeing how Rui-nee panics whenever she takes us to do something exciting is fun too. She runs around like we're going to hurt ourselves or something, but Naru-nee would never let that happen. She's a good Nee-chan. Rui-nee is just a worrywart but that's okay too because she's worrying about _us_. And I like that. Janie too."

Febrie paused as she thought about all her Nee-chans.

"Febrie loves all her Nee-chans! Janie does too, I'm sure, because we're the bestest family ever."

"Um!" Janie said in agreement as she walked into their room holding Rui-nee's hand.

"That's good to hear, Febrie, but it's time to take your bath now. So put away your tablet okay?" The older girl told her with a soft look on her face.

"Hai!" Febrie agreed as she hastily stopped the recording and put away her portable computer.

It was finally bath time and those were always fun. Playing with water with fun. She couldn't wait!

* * *

 **Done and done, thanks to the team of Nameless as always.**

 **Phew! The Silent Party Arc is done! With that, we can go back into some of the Toaru Index events, or at least those involving a certain Accel.**

 **Nameless: So it's mecha visualizations time. The Mobile Weapon used at the Assembly grounds should be straightforward. As mentioned in-story, it's a Ork Stompa from Warhammer 40k, though since they are non-standard in appearance just go with the description already provided. As for the Big Z, well it should be obvious but it's the MA-08 Big Zam from the original Mobile Suit Gundam.**

 **Or in the words of the Game Grumps, Big Zam! Always pick Big Zam boys and girls. So we had a lot of fun with the arc as a whole. Gods Febrie is so much fun to write and we get to write a personality for Janie in the following arcs too! The Omake was a blast too. XD**

 **Nameless: I personally love the way Febrie has wormed her way into the hearts and minds of the Trinity and co. It is proving a wonderful chance to explore their CD. Ruiko becomes motherly. Naru reinforces how she's a bro and even got a chance to show off her beginnings of some leadership skills. Mikoto's isn't as positive but she's continuing to solidify her thinking about the Dark Side, which is important to shape her responses to things to come.**

 **Naru of course realizes she's been too much of a lone wolf on ops to properly lead a group of her followers. Hopefully as she grows, she learns to be a better leader for her Rabbits.**

 **Nameless: We'll see. Maybe, maybe one day we'll have her take a leading role in the Trinity. Unlikely, as the other girls are kinda domineering in their own right, but maybe.**

 **Well, you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace out my peeps!**


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Twenty Seven: Histoire D'amour Un**

 **Beta:**

* * *

Closing the door to Janie and Febrie's room after making sure the two girls were asleep, Ruiko walked to her own room with a pleased smile on her face.

"The girls asleep?" Kaa-san asked from where she leaning against the wall down the hall.

"Yes, Kaa-san." The Level 5 confirmed, her smile growing even wider as the mere thought of the twins sleeping safe and sound just meters away. That after having spent a whole day enjoying themselves, something that would have been impossible for the Chemicaloids just weeks ago. It filled her with pride and joy at the small part she'd played in making that possible.

"Good. I feel like I'm growing grey hair from all you kids running around." The tired looking woman jested with a small smirk. "So are you going out again?"

"You knew?" Ruiko asked, genuinely surprised. She'd thought she had been discrete enough to escape notice when she'd snuck out the last few times.

Her mother shrugged, "I _do_ check on you sometimes when I feel the need for a late night drink or some such. You weren't in bed the last few times I did."

"Sorry about that. I should have left a note or something."

"Mmhm." The scientist agreed. "So where have you been going?"

Ruiko couldn't help but bite her bottom lip nervously, before hesitantly answering. "Accel's dorm."

The mother's eyes narrowed.

"...I see."

Ruiko withheld a flinch as she could _hear_ the disapproval from that statement alone.

"You're going to a boy's dormitory? In the middle of the night?" Kiyama asked with the authoritative tone that only mothers seemed able to pull off.

Maybe she should learn that.

"Yes?"

Kiyama sighed in resignation.

"Alright, I'm confident that you're not making me more of a grandmother, but I would really like to know what exactly you're doing with him late at night?"

"Kaa-san!" Ruiko hissed, scandalized at what her mother was insinuating. "I'm _twelve_!"

"That hasn't stopped you so far." The mother said nodding towards the twins' room.

"T-That doesn't count?! Right?" Ruiko had to ask.

"Oh, it does. Remember, hands to yourself young lady and make sure your boyfriend does the same."

"It's not like that! And he's not my boyfriend!"

"Yet," Kaa-san said with a knowing smirk.

"Kaa-san!"

Ignoring her daughter's indignation at her teasing, the scientist turned away and headed off to bed. Calling over her shoulder, she offered a parting comment.

"Don't be home too late, Ruiko. See you in the morning. Good night."

"Good night, Kaa-san." Ruiko said even as she felt her face heat up.

 _Stupid Kaa-san, being weird._

* * *

Ruiko teleported into Accel's dorm to find it trashed, which was not much of a surprise. Considering her friend's reputation and the many enemies it had engendered for him, his room tended to be the target of retaliation every other day.

"Sorry for being late, I got caught up with Kaa-san before… leaving…"

Her excuse died in her throat at what she saw before her. Sitting on his ruined mattress was a 10-year old version of Mikoto-sempai with one unusual strand of hair that stood up in a stereotypical ahoge and who was wearing nothing but a ragged scrap of a blanket.

Seeing the chibified version of her Sempai, in nothing but rags no less, she sent a flinty stare to Accel.

"Accel… what is going on?"

"First off, it ain't my fault." The albino grunted, looking annoyed that he was subject to her accusatory stare.

"Then how is it that there's a naked little girl in your dorm?" Ruiko asked, as her blood boiled at the possibilities. Was Accel a pedo? Did he have designs on Febrie and Janie? Was she not good enough? Would she need to change her mannerisms to appear younger to appeal to him? Maybe there was a method where she could change her biological makeup to lower her age?

"She followed me home!" The Number 1 said hastily. "Supposedly she's desperate for my help with something."

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Ruiko asked as her body was engulfed in her rainbow aura as her thoughts drifted away from how to attract her love interest and to the desire to protect Febrie and Janie from a potential pedophile. The mere prospect of the twins being exposed to a predator like that made her want to lash out, despite everything that she knew and felt about the young man in front of her.

"Actually, Saten-sama, Misaka Misaka says hesitantly, Accelerator-sama is telling the truth." The chibi version of Mikoto-sempai said in the way typical of the Sisters clones of the [Railgun].

"You're one of the Sisters?"

"Yes, Saten-sama, Misaka Misaka confirms while nodding vigorously."

"What are you doing here?"

"Didn't I just explain that?" Accel said, annoyed at being ignored. Ruiko just shot him a look and he shut up.

 _Good. At least he knows that he's not completely off the hook yet._

"Misaka Misaka's body is incomplete, Misaka Misaka says, she thought Accelerator-sama would be able to help her by getting in touch with a researcher to get help in fixing that. Misaka Misaka… doesn't want to die."

Seeing those large eyes looking scared and terrified, Ruiko's budding mama bear instincts took over.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of it." Ruiko assured as she pulled the girl into a hug.

" _We_?" Accel asked, looking at her as if she had grown a second head.

The Number 3 glared at him, "Yes, _we_."

"Why don't you take care of her? You seem to _love_ kids all of a sudden, right?"

"My plate is full at the moment."

"Huh? You've got those siblings of yours, have them do it or something. I've got better shit to do." The Number 1 grunted and looked away, radiating annoyance.

"Like what exactly?" Ruiko asked, crossing her arms over her chest and smirking at her friend.

"Stuff. Does it matter what it is?"

"When you're trying to be lazy. Yes, it is."

"Lazy!?" Accel shouted, scandalized at the accusation and shooting to his feet in a confrontational manner.

"Yes, lazy. How else would you describe refusing to help a little girl in need when you have nothing better to do?"

The young clone stared at the two, her chestnut brown eyes bouncing between them as they argued back and forth in what seemed like fascination.

"And why should I do anything just because you forced me to do so?"

"I'm not forcing you to do anything! I'm just asking you to do what's right."

"Why do you even care, you busybody? Heck, what are you doing here anyways?" The pseudo albino said with a growl. "You've been visiting me every day since the end of the Level 6 Shift! Are you really that free?"

"Can't I just check in with you? After all, as your friend, I'm concerned for you."

Ruiko marched up to him, getting right in his face and refused to back down just because he was in some, some mood!

"Misaka Misaka wonders in a whisper if they will kiss due to their close proximity."

The two snapped their heads to stare at the tiny clone, who had stars in her eyes but who quickly covered her head in the rag at the attention.

"...Misaka Misaka thinks she said that out loud."

 _She's as subtle Mikoto-Sempai._ Ruiko thought dryly. That said, there was another major concern for young children like the clone.

"It's getting late, why don't you go to bed." Ruiko urged the clone kindly as she kneeled down to look the girl in the eye.

"I'm not tired, Misaka," she yawned adorably, "Misaka argues."

 _Was Mikoto-Sempai this cute as a child? Geez, I just want to hug her even more!_

"Bed, young lady. Accel will sleep on the couch."

"Says you!" The Number 1 snarled.

"Would you rather I made a call to Anti-Skill about you having a naked child sleeping in the same dorm as you?" Ruiko asked with deceptive sweetness.

"Urgh. Fine," Accel said unhappily.

"Okay, then I'll see the both of you tomorrow morning."

"Bye bye, Saten-sama, Misaka Misaka says as she waved tiredly in goodbye." The little girl said as she curled up into a fetal ball and dozed off.

 _Note to self, grab some of Janie and Febrie's clothes. She must be cold in that rag!_

"You better be back tomorrow," Accel demanded in a whisper. "Or I'll drop her off on your doorstep."

"Don't worry, Accel." Ruiko assured her friend. "I'll be here bright and early tomorrow."

The vector manipulator accepted the promise with a nod and turned towards his wrecked couch to catch whatever sleep he could manage.

Shaking her head at how much of a tsundere her friend was being, Saten teleported home for the night.

* * *

The next morning, Accelerator followed after Ruiko and the brat as they headed out to a nearby restaurant for breakfast.

"Julian's breakfast is very good, you'll like it." The Number 3 informed the brat.

"I'm more thankful for the clothes, Misaka Misaka says appreciatively. While hugging the stuffed bear, Misaka Misaka adds that Misaka Misaka is also happy to have a teddy bear."

The small clone held the bear close to her while sporting actual clothes. Said clothes was a red gothic lolita dress that Ruiko had brought over, probably a spare from those twins that she'd adopted recently.

The bear though, that got Accel curious.

"So what's with the damn bear? You buy them in bulk for the twins or something? Or did you just have an extra just laying around?"

A grimace crossed her face as his friend replied, "Kaa-san started to show them how to properly perform dissections. If she used one of Febrie's Gekota plushies, she would have gone berserk. So teddies are a safer option."

At that revelation, the clone looked down at the stuffed toy she was clutching tightly with a worried look in her eyes.

"Don't worry Misaka-chan," Ruiko offered with a gentle pat on top of her head. "No one will hurt your bear."

"Last Order, Misaka Misaka said shyly, that's my name."

"Stupid name." Accel said with a snort.

The brat's face looked angry, or pouty? He didn't know. Kids were weird.

"If you don't have anything good to say, Accel, then keep your mouth shut." Ruiko said with a glare.

"Tch," The ash haired boy clicked his tongue. He would have just plugged in his headphones and ignored the two girls, but somehow - Ruiko's doing, he was sure - they had combusted. "Yeah, yeah, I'll behave."

"Good, now let's take a seat and place our orders." Ruiko said with a satisfied smile and called a waitress over as the three of them took a seat. "I'm paying."

"Heard that brat?" Accel said with an amused smirk. "Better leech as much you can from Ruiko. She's usually a penny pincher."

The fact that Ruiko was paying was the only reason that he had agreed to come along anyways.

"I'll not be ungrateful and will be reasonable with my order, Misaka Misaka says with a grateful nod to Saten-sama."

 _Ass kisser._ He thought with a roll of his eyes as he scanned over a menu. The waitress arrived a few moments later with a pen and pad in hand. She glanced at the two Level 5s, a nervous smile on her face.

"Good morning, Saten-sama," The waitress said a little stiffly as she repeatedly looked between Ruiko and Accel. "Out on a date?"

"I'm here too, Misaka Misaka says with a pout."

"Oh, sorry. Who's that Saten-sama?"

"That's one of Mikoto-sempai's clones. Accel and I ran into her last night and are taking care of her for the moment."

Accel shot Ruiko an incredulous look. Yeah, sure it wasn't exactly hard to figure things out but should she just be going around telling everyone about it? That was a little too blatant, even for him.

"O-Oh, a clone? Wow, Academy City gets more advanced every day!"

"It does." Ruiko agreed. "I'll have Set A today. Accel, Order-chan?"

"Set C please, Misaka Misaka affirms happily."

"Set B." Accel said gruffly.

"Right, that's a Set A, one Set B and a Set C?"

"That's correct." Ruiko confirmed.

"Your orders will be delivered in five to eight minutes." The waitress informed them with a smile, before bowing and rushing off to prepare their food.

"You eat here often?" Accel asks with a raised eyebrow. "You seemed pretty familiar with that waitress just now."

"It's a bit of a group gathering place for the Trinity."

"Talking about your girlfriends," Accel said with annoyance. "Why don't you call the Number 5 to take the brat? I'm sure you don't want her living in my apartment any longer than you can."

"Misaka doesn't want to involve Onee-sama, Misaka Misaka says in a small, nervous voice. Onee-sama has been troubled enough by the Sisters already, Misaka Misaka reasons."

"You're still her responsibility." Accel insisted with an annoyed look.

"Like she isn't yours?" Ruiko shot back, her eyes narrowed as if _he_ was in the wrong. "After all, the Sisters' creation was justified by the Level 6 Shift experiment, which was entirely about _you_. Doesn't that make Order-chan your responsibility too?"

"Please, it was just an excuse for those techs thinking they could pull it off. Hey, brat, wasn't it thrown off the second the Number 5 fought me?"

"Um, uh, Misaka agrees that the entire mathematical foundation underpinning the project was disrupted by Onee-sama's brief battle with you, says Misaka Misaka with a bit of confusion. The Level 6 Shift should have been shelved at that point, but was… continued? Misaka Misaka is flummoxed as she thinks about this now."

"I really don't want to waste time on deciphering the Superintendent's motives. It would be a waste of our time considering how little we know of his plans." Ruiko said with finality.

"Then call up his pet rabbit. Doesn't she actually talk with the guy?" Accel grunted as he boredly played with the knife on the table.

"I've discussed this with her and he's not told her anything useful." Ruiko said firmly. "So like I said, change the topic."

"Fine," Accel conceded unhappily.

He really wanted to figure out why the Superintendent decided it would be a good idea to play him for a fool, because he fully intended to pay the man back for that and the best way to do that was to mess up his plan. Or was it plans? Who knew what was going on in that stupid windowless building. To do that though, he needed to figure out what they were first.

That said, he didn't want to upset his meal ticket either. Ruiko was prickly today for some reason, and he'd stepped on enough of her toes already.

 _I wonder why. She usually plays along with my talk without a problem._

"So whatcha wanna talk about instead?" Accel asked, playing up his bored drawl. He might not want to piss Ruiko off, but he definitely wanted to push her buttons. Considering how robotic she was for most of the time he'd known her, he was intensely curious about this new more expressive side of her.

"I want to affirm your intentions for Last Order… you aren't, you know, _interested_ in her?" Ruiko asked in a whisper.

Accel just shot his friend an annoyed look.

"I already said I wasn't a pedo!" The Number 1 hissed back.

"How do I know that? You haven't shown interest in girls your age. Heck, even older woman. It says something, Accel."

"Saten-sama, please calm down, Accelerator-sama was the perfect gentleman last night, Misaka Misaka assures."

Ruiko shot the clone a searching look even as the brat nodded sincerely. It seemed to clear up whatever doubts the [AIM Sovereign] had because after a moment, she heaved a relieved sigh.

The look she sent him though clearly said she had her eye on him.

"Hey! What's with all the doubt!? Don't you trust your friend?"

"You did try to tear me apart a couple of weeks back."

"That's par for the course for our training sessions." Accel shot back defensively.

"Repeatedly?"

"Okay, so I might have gone overboard there." Accel reluctantly admitted. "But you were pissing me off."

"And you were being an idiot."

"I apologized." Accel insisted.

"You two are such good friends, Misaka Misaka notes with happy smile." The clone said suddenly.

"Of course we are, we've been friends for years." Accel told the brat. "Right, Ruiko?"

The girl just nodded with a blush.

"Oi, what's with the blush?"

Ruiko's reply was interrupted by the arrival of their food, but Accel would've sworn he heard her muttering under her breath something that sounded vaguely like "Bakaccel".

 _What the hell did I do now!?_ The Number 1 asked himself, totally confused by his friend's reaction.

Thankfully, Ruiko didn't continue her odd behavior and quickly turned her attention to the kid.

"How is it? Not too hot?" Ruiko asked the brat as they started eating.

"It's wonderful, Misaka Misaka says as she cheerfully waves her fork in the air!"

"Easy, you could take out someone's eye."

 _Whose? Her own?_ Accel snorted at the thought. He knew better than to say it out loud though. He might be a gruff asshole, but that was by choice not because he was ignorant of social mores. And like he said earlier, he didn't want to upset Ruiko.

 _Why do I care so much about that anyways?_ Accel mused as he suddenly realized how much he'd been thinking that. _Am I still feeling guilty over what I did to her during the Level 6 Shift?_

That was part of it, surely, but he knew that it wasn't the only reason. Though what the other reasons were eluded him.

"What's with the look on your face? You're acting like a sourpuss." Ruiko told him bluntly.

"Just thinking about stuff, so mind your own damn business." Accel shot back without thinking, even as he inwardly grimaced at his harsh tone.

"I would, but seeing that face of yours makes me want to see if you can smile a little more."

 _What the hell!?_

"What in the world are you talking about!?" Accel asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I think Accelerator-sama would look very handsome if he smiles, Misaka Misaka offered in agreement." The clone chimed in unnecessarily.

"Both of you are crazy. Just eat your damn food." Accel demanded.

"Right, sorry." Ruiko said with that same out of place blush on her face. In contrast, the clone just pouted at having her fun cut short.

They continued eating with Ruiko chatting away with the clone about all kinds of mundane things as she mined the younger girl on her preferences about clothes, food and what not. The brat's answers weren't exactly enlightening thanks to her limited frame of reference as a clone but Ruiko persisted.

Accel totally could see his friend going out and buying up tons of stuff the girl liked and literally drowning her in goodies.

For his part though, Accel just sat back and tried to muddle through his uncharacteristic thoughts about Ruiko. He'd been close to her for years, but he had never felt the need to worry so much about her feelings before. So why the sudden change? Was it really entirely because of his guilt over the way he treated her during the Level 6 Shift?

A little soul searching told him no. As much as he was finding it uncomfortable to realize it, he'd been conscious and concerned about her feelings for a long time. He'd just never really acted on it. At least not while being as aware of doing so as he was now.

He was drawn out of his thoughts by the sound of a ringing cell phone.

"It's mine." Ruiko confirmed, as she pulled her phone out of her pocket.

"Just one minute." She said as she pressed a button, "Yes, Kaa-san? What's going on?"

He and the brat shared a small look and turned back to Ruiko.

"Eh? Really, but… no, I'll be right there. Yes, just give me a minute to say goodbye. Love you."

"What's up?" Accel cocked a brow her way. "Problems at home?"

"Just something I need to take care of." Ruiko quickly said as she grabbed a napkin and started scribbling on it with a pen she made from Dark Matter. "Here, and be careful, you loose cannon."

He growled at the term and grabbed the napkin from her hand.

Shooting him an amused smile and giving the brat a reassuring pat on her head, Ruiko walked over to the counter to pay their bill before teleporting away.

Accel and the clone sat there in a tense silence for a few minutes. He was dutifully ignoring the note Ruiko had passed him, sure that she had likely just written down something teasing to annoy him.

The Number 1 didn't really mind silence normally, but seated there with one of the clones of whom he'd killed 10,000 plus copies of, it made him uncomfortable.

Turning to the brat, he asked the question that had been bugging him since he first met her last night.

"How the hell can you stand being around me, much less talk to me? I murdered more than 10,000 of your sisters. Don't you know that?"

To his surprise, the clone looked him in the eyes with a comforting look.

 _Was she trying to comfort me? The one responsible for so many of her sisters' deaths?_

"Last Order was connected to all the other clones, so of course Last Order knows, Misaka Misaka confirms."

"Then how-"

"Misaka says Misaka was told that each Misaka's life has its own meaning. That there would be always be someone who would shed tears if a Misaka died. That's why Misaka won't die anymore, from now on none of us will die."

Accel rocked back in his seat at this. In his mind's eyes, he flashbacked to the many, many clones he killed. However, the brat didn't give him the time to gather his bearings and instead pushed on.

"Our lives are precious, Misaka Misaka saves with feeling. So how can we hate the person who is responsible for our existence, Misaka Misaka asked sincerely. Without Accelerator-sama, the Level 6 Shift experiment would never have been proposed and we would never have come into being, Misaka Misaka explains. So thank you Accelerator-sama, Misaka Misaka says with a genuine bow."

Accel couldn't believe it, was the clone insane?

"Are you joking?" The Number 1 said with a forced smirk. "You do realize that I enjoyed killing you clones, right?

Tilting her head to the side, the brat shook her head, "No you did not, Misaka Misaka says, catching Accelerator-sama's lie easily. You didn't want to be part of the experiment in the first place, Misaka Misaka says with firm conviction."

"What do you know!?" Accel shot back. "I continued with the experiment didn't I? Even when it meant that I had to keep killing you clones? Doesn't it mean that I didn't bloody care about your lives?"

"Misaka Misaka ponders, if that is the case, then why did you bother talking to the Misakas during the experiments? Many times... many times, even though there weren't many conversations. Misaka Misaka says as Misaka regrets that she couldn't notice your signs. If Misaka told you: 'I don't want to fight anymore', would you have stopped?"

Accel felt himself rooted in his seat at that.

"You were trying to establish communication with us, Misaka Misaka posited."

"You're delusional. How the hell were my insults supposed to establish any kind of communication?"

"Misaka refuses to believe that, Misaka Misaka says. Yes, your words to us were unreserved and were abusive, and actually diverges from wanting to establish contact with others, Misaka Misaka agrees. However, Misaka Misaka insists, that if one assumes that those words were used in order to get a negative response and the fact that all the insults were stated before an experiment began, then one can conclude that the words were used in order to scare the clones. You were trying to make the Misakas scared enough so the clones would not want to fight anymore, Misaka Misaka concluded. The Misakas were simply unable to understand your intentions, Misaka Misaka insisted. Again, Misaka Misaka asks you again, would you have have stopped if Misaka told you: 'I don't want to fight anymore'?"

Accel had no answer. He honestly didn't know what he'd have done if confronted with such a situation. What he did know was that he didn't want to listen to this brat running her mouth off anymore.

Jumping to his feet, the Number 1 marched out of the restaurant with his fists clenched in anger.

He'd marched half a block down the street when he remembered the note that Ruiko had handed him earlier and which he was still clutching in his clenched fist. Looking at the napkin, his eyes narrowed dangerously as he read it.

 _ **We're being tailed. Possibly someone involved in the Level Six Shift. Or targeting you. Keep her safe.**_

 _Yeah, thanks Ruiko. Real helpful_ now _._ He screamed in his mind.

Turning around, he sprinted back to the restaurant hoping that the brat was still there. Bursting into the building, his expectations and fear was met when he saw that the girl was gone.

* * *

"How? I thought we've gone over the cooking safety protocols…"

"There were protocols?" Nunotaba-san asked with an arched eyebrow as she put down the fire extinguisher she'd used to put out the fire that had been the emergency that Kaa-san had called her home to help deal with it.

"Yes," Ruiko confirmed. "It was necessary after Kaa-san nearly set the house on fire for the fifth time."

"Oba-san made boom." Febrie giggled from a distance.

"A big boom!" Janie nodded happily in agreement.

 _Are they budding pyromaniacs? Oh I really hope not! I have enough trouble coping with Kaa-san and her antics!_ Ruiko fretted as she looked at her girls.

The teenage scientist that doubled as their household's live in nanny just sighed in resignation. "What are these protocols and where can I find them?"

"Kaa-san has it memorized. Though clearly she doesn't remember to apply them or think with _logic_ when it counts."

"Someone's sassy today. The date not go over well?"

"Do not deflect right now, Kaa-san."

"Ah, that bad?"

Ruiko gave her mother the most stern glare she could muster.

"Kiyama-sensei, you _will_ write down those protocols for me. By tonight. Agreed?" Nunotaba-san insisted.

Kaa-san just sighed and nodded.

"No more booms?" Febrie pouted. Sweet Science, what was going on in her cherubic head?!

"Not for now, if we can help it." Ruiko reassured the twins. Turning back to her mother, the Number 3 gave her an exasperated look. "I'll call the contractor to fix the kitchen."

As if these distractions from Last Order's situation wasn't enough, the doorbell rang.

"Kaa-san are we expecting visitors?" Ruiko asked even as her mother walked over to open the door.

"Yes, actually, Khulan-chan and Maki-chan are dropping by for a visit today."

"Ah, but I have to head back soon…" Ruiko frown, still feeling antsy with leaving Last Order with Accel.

"You don't want to spend time with your sisters?" Her mother asked with a stern look on her face.

"No, no! I do, just, time conflicts."

"Well, you can make time now."

"Y-Yes, Kaa-san."

 _This is going to be a long day._ Ruiko thought to herself with a sigh as she put on a smile to welcome her siblings. _Hopefully Accel will be able to keep Order-chan safe without me._

* * *

Her sisters were just leaving, Nunotaba-san was tucking the twins into bed after having had a lovely time playing with their aunties the whole day, and Kaa-san had retreated down into the labs to work on some project or other, so at last Ruiko was finally able to get back to Accel and Order-chan.

She grabbed a quick shower, to make sure she was presentable. She wasn't about to interact with Accel while stinking thanks to a whole day playing with little kids. Not if she could help it.

She had also changed into a casual outfit, a cute little blouse and skirt combo she hoped would appeal to Accel. One which was in a slightly more childish style than she would have normally favored. A change that was purely for experimental reasons of course.

She was just checking how she looked in her bathroom mirror when she received a call from an unknown number on her phone.

Cycling through her database, Ruiko came to a quick conclusion.

"Hello, Yoshikawa-san. How did you get this number?" The Number 3 asked the former researcher for the Level 6 Shift.

" _Good evening, Saten-san. Accelerator gave it to me, while telling me to call 'the annoying busybody' and tell her what's going on."_

"And what exactly _has_ happened?"

" _I'm surprised you don't already know, but I suppose you were distracted."_

"Yes, I was. Now just tell me."

" _That moron, Amai Ao, abducted Last Order. He was one of the former lead researchers of the Sisters Project."_

"He targeted Order-chan because of her status as the Administrator of the Misaka Network."

" _On the nose. Accelerator is out there looking for her. Hopefully he manages to find her in time because things aren't looking good from what I can figure out."_

"What are Amai's intentions?"

" _Revenge. When the Level 6 Shift experiment was frozen, Amai was ruined. So he's decided to get revenge. He's uploaded a virus into the Network via Last Order that will make the clones go berserk and has kidnapped Last Order to stop anyone from interfering."_

"And Accel is out trying to rescue Last Order?" Ruiko asked with a smile at her friend _finally_ demonstrating the heroic tendencies she knew were buried in his deeply wounded soul. "I knew he could do it."

" _He hasn't yet,"_ Yoshikawa said, clearly misunderstanding what exactly Ruiko meant. " _But that's the general gist of it."_

"Don't worry, I'll be helping too."

" _Good. Teleport to my lab so we can deal with that bastard."_

* * *

Ruiko soon found herself walking through the halls of Yoshikawa's lab or what was left it. With the Level 6 Shift experiment being wound up, the lab was slowly being shut down. The process was not complete yet, but was well underway as exemplified by the stripped out computers and even electrical wiring throughout the building.

Not that Ruiko paid attention to this fact. Instead, the bulk of her awareness was focused on trying to track down Accel, Amai and Last Order. And failing to do so.

This reeked of Crowley's interference. She highly doubted that either men were going out of the way to hide from her surveillance so the only logical conclusion was that a third party had hid them from her on their behalf. Considering she had access to the City's vast array of cameras and other electronic networks, it would require a truly impressive level of influence to blindside her in this way. There weren't many people with the ability to do so and Crowley seemed the most likely in this case. And once her AIM sense was taken into account, there was no doubt of who was responsible for her inability to do something that should have been trivial.

 _Though what exactly does he want from this? What's his stake in this?_

With a resigned sigh, she gave a helpless shrug. The Superintendent's plans were unfathomable, and she was not about to waste time trying to decipher what it was that he wanted this time. Not when she had more pressing concerns.

"Yoshikawa-san, I've arrived." The Number 3 said as she stepped into the room where the scientist was hard at work.

The researcher looked up from where she was typing away on her personal laptop and quirked a brow at the Level 5 that left Ruiko confused. Shaking her head, the scientist said, "Alright, in order to find our wayward little clone, I'm working on a means to ping her on the Misaka Network."

Walking over, Ruiko looked over the code for the program the older woman was working on. Her blue eyes scanned it up and down, trying to see any errors. To her slight surprise, it looked sound.

"It should work." The AIM manipulator said, doing her best to express clearly how impressed she was with the scientist's work.

"Heh, glad you approve." The scientist offered a lazy smile. Looking over her laptop, her brow knitted as she activated her program. "Wait, what's with this data? I can't make sense of this."

On the screen were a series of red dots that were floating around each other without any point of reference. It seemed that while the scientist had managed to create a well designed program that allowed her to access the Misaka Network and locate Last Order's location in relation to other Sisters, she'd failed to remember to, or realize the need to, overlay that on a map of the City to allow _them_ to make sense of the data.

Ruiko gently nudged the woman, "Let me see that."

The older woman promptly handed her laptop over and Ruiko promptly got to work. "Just trying to ascertain her position by pinging her alone isn't going to work. We need to use the other Sisters as references and triangulate where she is based on her relative distance from their own location."

"But how would we kno-"

Ignoring the scientist, Ruiko just kept typing. Quickly, improving the program dramatically.

"Crowley isn't blocking my ability to track _them_ , so if I input their locations into this map of the City and _then_ triangulate her location. _There!_ She's in District 19 near the old Iesada research facility."

Panic rose in Ruiko's chest. _If Last Order is there, then what's Accel doing? Does he know where she is too?_

"Call Accel," she said showing none of her unease. "Get him to meet us th-"

Her words died in her throat as suddenly her attempts to track Accel bore fruit and she found him. She should have been ecstatic to have finally found him, except the scene that she saw via the street camera she'd just gained access to horrified her.

She could only look on in helpless shock as she saw him fall to the ground from a shot to the head.

Ruiko felt something snap inside of her. She couldn't even comprehend what it was but a scream ripped from her throat.

She didn't even notice as she teleported to Accel's side, not even that Yoshikawa had grabbed onto her and thus managed to tag along.

All that was on her mind now was the filth that had shot Accel, Amai Ao and how she was going to destroy him!

"Number 3!" The disgraced scientist screamed in panic as he leveled his gun against Last Order's head where she sat in the shotgun seat of his sports car. "Stay back or I'll-"

He never got the chance to finish the threat before a dozen of her tentacle like wings slammed into him and sent him flying. She could sense her Angel Mode coalescing around her and she should have been alarmed that it was manifesting seemingly without her conscious will, but right now that was not a concern. The only thing that mattered to her in the moment was _revenge_.

Amai wasn't dead though. No. Not yet. Ruiko was not going to let him die _that_ easily.

" **Dd** _ **D**_ **I** _ **ii**_ **iEee** _ **eE**_ **!"** She roared, her voice distorted.

"Well shit," Yoshikawa said in shock. "Saten-san! Don't go overboard! We need to focus on saving Accel and Last Order."

Ruiko didn't pay her any heed. She was so deep in her anger, the middle schooler could think of nothing else but killing the target of her rage.

As her rainbow wings wrapped around the _worm_ , they released a blinding light. Slowly, starting from his feet, Amai started to disintegrate.

"Ah! Stop! Stop!" The _leech_ screamed as his feet vanished, followed quickly by his calves.

" **DELETE!"** Ruiko screamed, unleashing a shockwave of pure power that tore the remainder of Amai's body apart down to its constituent molecules.

The man didn't even get a chance to scream as he was torn asunder.

"Saten-san! Enough! The ambulances are on the way! Calm down!"

 _Calm down? Calm down!? What madness? Her anger was hardly quenched!_ Ruiko screamed in her mind even as she pushed through the scattering cloud of dust that was the remains of Amai's body. Fury still coursed through her veins and she needed to vent it.

And there in the distance was a target that would serve as a perfect punching bag. Looking into the heart of the City, she spotted it. The infamous and mysterious Windowless Building, the home of Crowley. The man who she was certain had set in motion the events that had led to the death of the man she loved.

 _Yes, he'll do for a perfect punching bag._

She felt invincible. Not even Crowley could stop her. She could put an end to all his schemes! He wouldn't be able to use them as pawns anymore! Peace, she could be at peace once and for all with him gone.

Gathering together a large mass of charged particles in front of her body. Ruiko prepared to send a deadly particle beam streaking into the heart of District 7 and the Windowless Building that stood mockingly there.

"N-No! Misaka Misaka pleads!"

Last Order's pained, soft voice caused Ruiko to freeze.

Turning within the bubble where her biological body resided when she was in Angel Mode, she faced the clone.

The small girl was struggling to crawl out of the car, her body shaking with every move she made. As she leaned out of the car door, she lost her balance and began to fall onto the street. Acting immediately, one of Ruiko's wings shot out as quickly as she could and caught her. Bringing the little girl closer, the Number 3 noticed that her chestnut eyes were brimming with tears.

"Save him, Misaka Misaka screams as loud as she can! S-Save him, Misaka Misaka says as Misaka tries to have Number 3 see reason!"

" **Sa** _ **V**_ **e** _ **h**_ **iM?"**

"Accelerator is not dead, Misaka Misaka confirms. But he needs help now, Misaka Misaka insists."

Her eyes swiveled to Accel's body.

 _He was still alive? Alive!?_ Some part had known it all along, but she'd been too lost in her rage to really appreciate it. Thankfully, Last Order had reminded her of the fact. There was just one problem...

 _Accel's literally on death's door! Who could possibly sav-_ Ruiko thought, cutting herself off as she realized what needed to be done. _Heaven's Canceler!_

Wrapping another of her wings around Accel, she teleported away to seek the assistance of the one man in the whole world who might be able to save her friend.

* * *

After calming down, thanks in no small part to Last Order's constant reminders, Ruiko impatiently waited outside the operating room of Heaven's Canceller hospital. After having been treated by Heaven Canceller for her encounter with Amai's hostile programming, the little girl had refused to rest in her own ward room and instead insisted on sticking by Ruiko to make sure she wouldn't fall back into her anger induced Angel Mode. Unfortunately for the tiny clone, she was exhausted and had quickly fallen asleep.

Ruiko had laid her down on the seats outside the operating theater and covered her with a blanket she'd created using Dark Matter. This left her alone with a recently arrived Yoshikawa. There was no conversation though, not even an attempt at such. Both women were far too worried about the young man undergoing surgery to chat.

Patting the little girl distractedly while her leg bounced nervously, Ruiko attempted to use her glare and sheer will to command the clock to go faster. The brunette's heart felt like it was ready to burst with worry. Already her mind was wondering how a gunshot to the _head_ would affect Accel.

Each scenario she envisioned was more nightmarish than the last. Thankfully for her sanity, she didn't have long to fantasize about worst case scenarios.

Her head snapped to the double doors as the operation light turned off. A second later, the frog faced lifesaver walked out, his face looking haggard. Much to her relief however, he was sporting a small smile.

"He'll live." He assured Ruiko and Yoshikawa.

Ruiko felt her heart break out in joy, though she paused when she saw a sad glimmer in the old doctor's eyes.

"He will however be crippled. The bullet did touch his brain and caused quite a bit of injury, which would undoubtedly affect his computational ability."

Shock ran through her system as she heard this. Accel… he would rather die than live like that. To him, his strength was everything.

"Can't you help him?" Yoshikawa demanded of the legendary physician.

"Did you forget who I am?" The frog faced doctor snorted in annoyance. "I've already helped him. I saved him, didn't I? He _is_ still breathing."

"I can lend Accel a portion of my computational abilities." Ruiko offered.

Heaven Canceller turned to her and offered her a smile but shook his head. "I'm sorry but it wouldn't work. Even the AIM mass that you use to supplement your brain's computational capacity and is the source of your immense prowess would not be enough. If you shared it with the boy, you would need to maintain both your powers and his at the same time. Would you be able to manage that? And if you cannot, you would lose your power wouldn't you? If that were the case, without your power would you be able to even maintain your AIM mass?"

"I-I can expand it somehow." The brunette rebutted.

 _If I create a Level Upper Network…_

"If I try-"

"I have a good idea of what you'd try, young lady." The doctor said with a chiding look. "And let me just say that there's no need for that. Not when there already exists a much safer solution."

 _What does he-_

Ruiko's unfinished question was answered when the elderly man turned to face Yoshikawa.

 _Oh!_

"I'll be putting that creation of yours to good use." The man said with an amused smirk before he pushed past the two ladies and began walking off.

 _Yes, the Misaka Network would be a perfect supplement for Accel to make up for the loss in his computational power._

"Can I see him?" Ruiko asked him quietly before he got out of earshot.

"Yes, he's resting but I'm sure a friend there would be appreciated." He told her, offering her a kind smile over his shoulder.

* * *

 **Done and done!**

 **Thanks to the Team of Nameless as always.**

 **Alright, so here it is, the three stories of our heroines. Starting off, Ruiko and Accel! What a fantastic date it was. There was even a child there! And of course Accel being accused of being a lolicon. Despite his fervent denials, Ruiko still fears that it is true of course. Man, Naru is going to have a field day with this, hehe.**

 **Nameless: Poor Ruiko, it's tough sometimes being the most 'developed' one in your group of friends. XD More seriously, finding Accel with a girl just shook her confidence a little. She's been throwing herself at him, by her admittedly wrapped standards, for weeks and he's not shown the slightest hint of attraction and now he lets a strange chibi Sister follow him home? What's a poor girl to think?**

 **So yeah, Ruiko flipped out and went Angel Mode and… Deleted a man from existence. So yeah, fun times by all. Now to figure out what happens to Last Order. Or LO-chan. Huh, I like that.**

 **Nameless: Considering how much Ruiko loves kids and how LO-chan talked her down from her rampage, I'd think what she'll do is obvious. On another note, LO-chan is an adorable nickname for Last Order. Misaka Misaka would approve I think. I know Naru definitely would.**

 **Oh, last thing before we sign off. The chapter title, according to Google!French, translates as Love Story One. Basically it's a nod to the canon Three Stories Arc and the direction our take on it will go. Why the use of French? Well… it** _ **is**_ **called the language of love.**

 **E4E: You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Twenty Eight: Histoire D'amour Deux**

 **Beta:**

* * *

Naru let out a thankful sigh once she _finally_ finished the lab practicals she had to make up. With all the missions she had been on during the semester she'd missed quite a few important classes and had been forced to make up for them over her summer holidays.

Jumping out of her seat and handing in her report and results to the teacher, the blonde was finally home free.

As she headed to her footlocker, she mused on what she could do.

She was _so_ looking forward to the free time now that she's finished her school work for the summer.

 _I could just take a nap? It's been a while. Oh! Maybe Awatsuki-chan wants to go shopping? I should probably invite her friends if that's the case. Hm, I haven't bugged Mikoto-Sempai in a while though… so many choices._

Giggling to herself, she opened her locker and was bemused as a pink envelope bordered by hearts fell out.

Seeing the love letter, Naru couldn't help but sigh. She had gotten her fair share of them over the months since she'd started attending Tokiwadai. As a result, the Number 2 had to keep a good lookout for those damn lolicons and a surprisingly large number of her starstruck schoolmates.

"I guess I should at least check who _this_ _one_ is from." Naru said with a tired sigh. Picking the envelope up, she noted that the paper was of good quality, so it must have been one of her schoolmate fans. As expected of Ojou-samas.

Opening and unfolding the letter, she ignored the majority of the tripe and just zeroed in on the signature at the bottom. However, the name written there forced her to gasp in shock.

 _S-Sh-Shutaura?!_ The blonde read as her tanned cheeks blossomed into a radiant pink hue.

What was going on?! Was this some trick?! Was it real?!

Her 'innocent maiden' mind wondered what could even be happening.

 _ **It certainly looks it.**_ Kurama noted with amusement. _**By the way, since when were you innocent?**_

 _I'm a maiden dammit, so of course I'm innocent! At least when it comes to this…_

The demon fox's only response was to snort in amused disagreement.

Ignoring her demonic tenant, Naru allowed a smile to spread across her face.

 _If Shutaura_ did _sign this, someone had to have put her up to it. But, I-I'm not entirely against it. I-I guess I'll humor her._

 _ **Yeah, sure, that's the only reason.**_

Naru was too far away in La-La land to hear him. She skipped out of school, wondering what she should wear.

* * *

Maaya Awatsuki and her friends, Wannai Kinuho and Kongou Mitsuko, had just returned to the Tokiwadai Interior Dormitories after a nice day out shopping with plans to hang out in Maaya's room when they walked into an unexpected scene.

All over the dormitory, dozens of their schoolmates were running all over the place in some kind of frenzy.

"I propose we hurry to your room, Awatsuki-san. I believe there is an interesting drama series we could watch. I hear the main character is quite scandalous but plays an interesting portrayal of a maid." Kongou-san suggested, eying their uncharacteristically flustered schoolmates all around them warily.

"Eh? I didn't know you like those types of dramas, Kongou-san." Kinuho-chan gasped but giggled, clearly playing along with Kongou-san's plan to ignore the fracas around them. "I wouldn't mind."

 _Good idea that._ Maaya thought to herself. _Though I'm a little curious about why everyone are so up in arms. If I'm not wrong… Those in a tizzy are all members of the Rabbit Faction too. Does it have something to do with Naru-san?_

The bluenette was about to voice her agreement to Kongou-san's suggestion too when a few of the frenzied girls rushed past them, shattering their tight-knit formation.

"Where is it? Where is it?" One of the two girls asked in a near hysterical whine.

"I don't know! We've ruled out Districts Six and Fifteen, but that still leaves too many possible places then we could ever fully cover!" One of the girls running past Maaya and friends lamented dramatically.

"I know! That's why we're going to cover District Sixteen to try to cover the holes in our surveillance." Her friend, having apparently recovered some of her cool, replied as the duo ran out of the range of Maaya's hearing.

Kinuho-chan stuck closer to her as she finally acknowledged the madness that was happening.

"What's going on?"

Kongou-san huffed as she snapped her fan open and fanned herself, "I have no clue, but this is highly inappropriate for students of Tokiwadai. Though mayhaps we should inquire with them?"

With that leading statement, Kongou-san snapped her fan closed and pointed at a group of girls from the Rabbit Faction questioning a couple of girls that Maaya recognized as Naru-san's classmates.

It looked more like an interrogation then just asking questions if Maaya were to be honest.

"No, I don't think I want to get involved with whatever madness that's got to them." Kinuho-chan said as she looked at the Rabbit Faction girls and their strange behavior with palpable nervous agitation.

Maaya and Kongou-san agreed with a nod and let the matter drop.

Putting their agreement into action, the three danced around the Rabbits behaving like inquisitors and in doing so witnessed another small group of their fellows looking at a tablet under one of the school's security cameras.

"Dial the time back." One said as small electric sparks was dancing between one of the girls hands. "We need to find out who left that letter in Naru-sama's footlocker."

"Keep working on it, you two." A girl from another nearby cluster of Rabbits said. "We need every clue we can get."

The girls in her group nodded in agreement.

"So we've sent teams to Districts Six, Fifteen and Sixteen. That covers most of the places you would take people on a date, right?" Another girl in the group said.

"We can't be sure of that." A third girl replied while worrying her lip. "For all we know, they might be going to District Twenty One for a hike in the mountains or anywhere else in the City for that matter. All it would take is a little creativity and you could conceivably plan a successful date almost anywhere in the City."

"You're right," the first girl said with a firm nod. "If we're going to protect Naru-sama's chastity then we need to be through about our surveillance."

The other girls standing with her nodded in agreement.

"Naru-san's chastity?" Maaya breathed in confusion.

"Oh my, how scandalous." Kongou-san gasped.

One girl stood out as she seemed to be trying to calm the other frantic Rabbits down.

"Seriously, stop blowing this out of proportion. Come on! You, stop harassing that girl right now! And will you girls stop hacking the security feed? You're going to get us in trouble!"

Maaya recognized her easily enough. Her name was Chao Lingshen, a Level 4 Electromaster and second in command of the Rabbit Faction. She was a pretty Chinese girl with her brunette hair tied up into a pair of buns and a set of long braids. She had a lithe athletic frame that was in stark contrast to her otherwise bookish nature. Maaya had in fact appealed to that aspect of the other girl's nature more than once herself by asking for advice on her schoolwork.

That gave them something of a acquaintance and the confidence to call out to her. "Chao-san, what's going on?"

"Hm? Oh! Awatsuki-chin, heya." She greeted her with a tired look in her eyes. "Apparently Naru-sama got a love letter and the rest of the bunnies are freaking out. As you can see. Hey! Put that girl down, we don't threaten people!"

"Wait, isn't that Awatsuki-san? Naru-sama's roommate?" One of the other Rabbits shouted as Maaya's conversation with Chao-san caught her attention.

A sense of dread overcame the bluenette as she was soon swarmed by a mob of Rabbit Faction students.

"Who's Naru-sama going out with?"

"Is it her secret paramour?! We've been speculating about that! So who is it?"

"It's another girl right?"

"No no, it's a boy! I'm sure some gentleman is trying to sweep her off her feet!"

Maaya looked left and right as she was bombarded by questions. Gulping in nervousness, she said. "I have no idea what's going on! I need some context here."

At her exclamation, she was quickly given some cliffnotes on the situation. Apparently her roommate had received another love letter. Instead of being bored about it and ignoring it, Naru-san was actually happy about it.

Maaya knitted her brow at that, that was quite the surprise considering how Naru-san disregarded all other attempts at 'confessing' to her. That said, she hadn't even _seen_ Naru-san since this morning. Nor had she heard Naru-san mention anyone that she might consider dating before now. As such, she really didn't have anything to offer.

"I'm sorry, I don't know. M-Maybe ask the rest of the Trinity?"

It was her best chance to get out of this alive. She hoped the other Trinity members would forgive her.

"Maybe we can check with Saten-sama?" One of the Rabbits suggested. "Isn't she at home looking after her little sisters?"

"N-No!" Kongou-san spoke up, a frightened look on her face. "Firstly, those girls aren't her sisters but her daughters and don't ever forget that. _Ever_. Making that mistake in front of Saten-sama might be enough for her to kill you. And even _thinking_ of disturbing their family time? That's just suicidal. I'm being completely serious here, so heed my warning or face the consequences."

Personally Maaya thought Kongou-san was exaggerating Saten-sama's likely reaction quite a bit, but agreed with her general assessment of things. That said, she couldn't quite throw off the niggling feeling at the back of her mind that Kongou-san wasn't as off the mark as either of them likely would have preferred.

The Rabbits paled and nodded uneasily. Saten-sama was scary like that after all.

"Uh, Kongou-san, maybe you shouldn't let Saten-sama hear you talk about her like that?" Kinuho-chan suggested nervously, looking all around her fearfully.

"No, Saten-sama specifically told me to warn everyone about this." Kongou-san replied with a nervous, terrified look. "So I'm sure she'll actually appreciate my forethought of warning everyone."

"Thank you for that, Kongou-san." Chao-san said sincerely with a bow, the other Rabbits following suit.

"Um, what about Misaka-sama? She may know? And I don't think she'd kill us." One of the Rabbits offered, getting nods all around.

Kinuho-chan shifted where she stood, "Misaka-sama said a few days ago she wanted to enjoy her summer vacation without distraction or interruption. So that may not be a good idea either."

"At least she won't kill us right?" One of the Rabbits offered half-heartedly.

"I'd rather not be electrocuted." Another Rabbit shot back. "I'm not Shirai-san."

Chao-san nodded, "Yeah, I think we should just leave the rest of the Trinity out of this okay?"

"I still think we should. I mean not even Saten-sama would kill us if we're polite right?"

"Are you crazy? I'd rather not risk my life!"

"Come on, guys! Let's not argue over this again." Chao-san said with a desperate air, as the Rabbits once more descended into chaos.

Maaya choose this time to slowly back away along with Kinuho-chan and Kongou-san. The only one who seemed to notice was Chao-san, who gave them a small wave to go.

 _Thank you, Chao-san._

* * *

 _Alright, deep breathes. It's not like it's your first date or anything._ Naru told herself as she walked through the _School Garden_.

Once the blonde received the letter, she was at first elated. Then she realized she had no idea what to wear. At that epiphany, she tossed her closet inside out and _finally_ found a dress that would most certainly impress.

Thank Science for her gold card.

 _ **And your shopaholic tendencies.**_ Kurama noted with amusement. He'd been radiating the emotion the whole time since she'd received Shutaura's love letter.

Her choice was a maroon long sleeved, hooded, pleated knee-length dress that she had complemented with the use of black ribbons to tie her signature pigtails. She completed her outfit with a pair of black suede heeled boots that stopped just above her ankles.

Reaching the meeting place that Shutaura had pointed out in her letter, a cafe, Naru took a seat and waited eagerly for her date to arrive. She couldn't wait to see what the exhibitionist had chosen to wear today,

 _Alright, be poised, sophisticated and charming. Man, Shutaura won't know what hit her._ Naru thought as smiled eagerly at the idea of the date ahead.

It was only a few minutes later that all of Naru's cognitive functions halted.

Strutting towards her was Shutaura in a royal blue, v-neck, a-line dress. It had beautiful lace applique worked into a top that accentuated the paramilitary leader's modest bust beautifully. She was holding onto a matching baby blue clutch which with the pair of simple black stiletto heels she was wearing, completed her stunning outfit.

Still, despite her uncharacteristic feminine outfit, she hardly carried herself in a matching demeanor. Instead, the older girl awkwardly walked over in her usual professional, militaristic manner. Somehow this still managed to radiate sensuality. At least for Naru.

 _ **Bah! You're biased.**_

 _Oh shut up!_

As the older girl stood before her, her professional features broke out into a small dusting of pink on her cheeks. Looking to the side, and with a squeak - _Squeak!_ \- in her voice, she said, "Stop staring."

Naru did as she was told and looked to the side as well, swallowing hard. It was a surprisingly difficult thing to do to say the least.

Sitting down, Shutaura cleared her throat, "Thank you for meeting me. I apologize if it was abrupt."

"I-It wasn't a hassle. So don't worry about it." Naru too cleared her throat, trying to sound casual but failing. "So what brought this on? A meeting is fine, but a date? It's… new."

"Ladylee forced me into this." The older girl said with a frown.

That took some wind out of Naru's sail.

"How did she manage that?"

"I lost a bet."

"Another one?" The pigtailed blonde asked with amusement.

Shutaura sighed and nodded.

"You should really stop making bets with your boss." Naru said with a chuckle at her friend's expense.

"So I've learned."

"Hehe, even your boss thinks you need to relax more." The Level 5 giggled at her plight.

The paramilitary leader just crossed her arms and frowned. "I don't know why everyone is so interested in what I do in my free time."

"I wouldn't lie and say I'm not interested either." She tossed in, smiling as she waved a waitress over.

"Then perhaps you can enlighten me on why you would want to do so?"

Naru just shrugged. "I just do. Can't really explain it."

Shutaura looked like she wanted to say something, but the arrival of the waitress had her holding her tongue.

"Can I take your order?" The friendly woman asked.

Offering the waitress a smile, Naru and Shutaura placed their orders.

As she left, the wait for the food was filled with an awkward silence. Naru tried to come up with something to say, but her mind kept going blank as her eyes wandered over the brunette's beautiful appearance. Naru couldn't help herself, she was overcome by a strange need to glance at Shutaura to admire just how ravishing she looked.

In response, Kurama chuckled from the depths of her mind.

Thankfully, Shutaura didn't seemed to notice.

 _ **Are you sure? Because if I'm not wrong there's a light blush on her face.**_ Kurama observed with a amused smirk.

"You're staring again." Shutaura said suddenly. Apparently Naru's secretive glances weren't as subtle as she'd hoped.

"S-Sorry." Naru stammered, her cheeks red. "I couldn't help myself."

"W-What?" Shutaura breathed out in shock.

"Well, I've never seen you dressed like this before," Naru said gesturing at Shutaura's very feminine dress. "Science be damned, I've never thought you'd look so pretty dressed in that style you know? It just caught me by surprise."

"Thank you." Shutaura said, her cheeks blushing even more brightly. "This dress isn't exactly my style. Ladylee-sama lent it to me from her own personal collection?"

"In your size?"

"She went out of her way to have it tailored." Shutaura said with grimace.

"How the hell did she get your sizes in the first place?" Naru asked abruptly before she thought her words through. She ducked her head in embarrassment.

Kurama chuckled in amusement at her faux pas.

"She does order my uniforms. You know that, right?" The older girl reminded her unnecessarily, with an uncharacteristic edge of amusement in her tone.

"Y-Yeah, I forgot about that for a minute." Naru admitted uneasily. Her face burning with her embarrassment at her slip of the tongue.

 _Stupid mouth. Stupid mind jumping to conclusions. Stupid Kurama._

 _ **How is this my fault?**_

 _It just is!_

Clearing her throat, the blonde attempted to fix her mistake.

"Maybe we could go shopping sometime?" Naru asked with an uneasy smile. "We could find some stuff that's your style."

"I'd rather not." Shutaura said with a apologetic smile. "Not when I'm dressed like this. I don't want to risk ruining this outfit before the end of the date. Ladylee-sama would kill me if I did."

"Oh." The pigtailed girl answered a little disappointedly. She had been hoping that Shutaura would pick up on the hint that she was suggesting a second date. Pushing that aside, she had other chances to push for that later, she focused on what her date had actually said. "You think Ladylee is spying on us?"

"Possibly. But mostly she wants pictures of the date today."

"Oh?" Naru said with an amused look.

"Yes," Shutaura said as she fished out her phone from her clutch. "That being the case, mind if I take a shot of us now?"

"Sure," Naru said, eagerness in her tone.

Shutaura offered her a grateful smile as the two girls moved into a pose and took their photo. Naru made it a point to smile as broadly as she could, to show just how much she was enjoying this date. Hopefully that'll clue Shutaura in on what she wanted from her.

 _ **You really should just be upfront about it.**_

 _What do you know about dating?_

 _ **Unlike you, I have learned dating from all the great artistes.**_

 _Rom-Coms don't count, you dummy._

The two girls had just returned to their seats when the waitress returned with their orders.

"Sorry for the delay ladies, here's your food." The woman said with a comely smile and an amused gleam in her eyes as she eyed the couple.

The meal was certainly pleasant to look at. As Naru dug in with all the Ojou-sama poise that had been drilled into her by her time at Tokiwadai, her mind tried to come up with some topic to talk about. She definitely didn't want to put her foot into her mouth again.

Kurama's chuckles echoed in her mind. He was clearly greatly amused by Naru's antics.

 _ **Oh! You're hilarious! Just be natural!**_

 _Don't be an idiot! If I say the wrong thing, I'll just end up embarrassing myself._

 _ **Please, looking stupid is an endearing trait. Look at that freaky hand boy.**_

 _I'd rather not be that type of endearing..._

Naru was actually thankful for Kurama's commentary, it was a wonderful distraction from the embarrassed silence of the meal.

Shutaura attempted to say something, but quickly reached for her drink as if that was her intention the whole time. Said older girl was also sneaking looks at Naru and looking away quickly, her blush spiking each time. It was an ironic reversal of Naru's behavior earlier in the date.

Naru tried to comment, but her worries over embarrassing herself held her back. Instead, she covered her attempts with a cough.

As a result of their awkwardness, the meal was punctuated by a storm of coughing, sneezing and clearing throats.

Personally, Naru felt like she was going to have a meltdown. She was internally screaming that she didn't know what to say at all. She'd never been in a situation like this. She'd always been the silver-tongued imp that always had some quip to throw out there to lighten the mood. It was her thing, damnit! But here she was tongue tied.

 _ **Everyone has their comeuppance at some point.**_ Kurama noted with a vulpine smirk.

 _There will be chains, there will be pain and I swear I will send you to a petting zoo._

 _ **Okay, okay, I'll be good.**_ Naru almost sighed in relief at that, though in the interest of maintaining her poise she suppressed it. In hindsight that was a good choice as Kurama followed up with a cheeky, _**For now.**_

 _Just keep quiet for the rest of this date, you blasted fox._

 _ **Fine, fine.**_ The fox agreed. _**Won't stop me from being amused by your absolute inability to be romantic at all.**_

 _Shut up! Now!_ The chakra manipulator ordered.

The fox just nodded, though he was still sporting the constant air of amusement that he'd wrapped himself in since he'd first heard about the date.

With her tenant cowed, Naru took towards pondering what was holding Shutaura back. She was being held back by her shorted out brain, but she couldn't fathom what Shutaura's deal was. Normally, the leader of the Black Crow Unit was prim and proper, and was able to clearly say what she wanted when she wanted. Yet here she was as tongue-tied as Naru was.

 _What's gotten into her?_

This was a question that plagued Naru for the rest of the meal, even as the awkward, embarrassed silence continued.

When their meal was done and after a small argument on who would pay that they eventually settled by agreeing to split it, they walked out of the cafe while discussing what they would do next.

"Um, would you like to walk around?"

Shutaura shot an irate look at her heels, but after a glance at Naru she nodded with her cheeks noticeably pink.

"I think that would be acceptable."

Naru beamed as they headed out onto the streets of the _School Garden_ , the lovely architecture setting quite the mood for the two. The Tokiwadai student made sure to walk close to her date, in case she lost her balance with her heels of course. It was totally not because she wanted to be able to press herself close to her absolutely gorgeous date.

Their discussions were awkward at first but as time passed, they quickly relaxed and their conversation shifted to more familiar topics.

"So, uh, heard anything about Mugino and friends after the Silent Party Incident?"

"Friends? Really?" Shutaura asked skeptically.

Naru shrugged and nudged her head at their surroundings to hint for the need for discretion considering where they were.

Taking the hint, Shutaura sighed in frustration as she replied. "Mugino-san doesn't have friends, just flunkies."

"Hm, I don't know." Naru argued. "Sure, [Meltdowner] treats her friends badly, but I think she sorta cares about them."

The brunette wrinkled her nose cutely at that.

"I'll take your word for it." Shutaura said skeptically. "But if they _are_ her friends, then they must be a bunch of weirdos. They don't seem to mind her treatment much."

"Oh big time." Naru giggled as they turned down another brick road. There were less people here and that automatically felt a touch more romantic. "Still, my opinion on Frenda-chan has changed. She's a pretty good agent."

"Truly?" The Level 4 asked in surprise. "I remember how you looked down on her. In fact, I thought you enjoyed messing with her."

"Well, yeah, but I've gotten to know her better." Naru told her, a tiny smile on her face. "So I think the two of us are getting along at least now. She isn't even squeamish around me, so, progress."

"Hmph. Perhaps the girl finally got a backbone."

"Or her cowardice was a ruse all along! Super sneaky of her."

The skeptical look on Shutaura's face caused the blonde to giggle.

"I am somewhat dubious. From the last time I saw them, it seemed they've slipped back into their old routine."

Naru sighed in relief.

"I'm glad that they're back to normal. The last trip we went on together was hectic."

Shutaura nodded, and looking around to notice that they'd ended up a reasonably picturesque spot, pulled out her phone. Naru got the hint and cosied up to her date, earning herself a brilliant blush on the brunette's face even as she snapped another photo for her boss.

"So what about the Trinity?" Shataura asked as she put her phone away, "How are you girls getting along lately?"

"Oh! Things have been great." Naru brightened at the question. "Ever since Febrie and Janie joined up with Saten-chan, she's really mellowed out. Or has been wound up more? It's tough to say. As for Mikoto-Sempai, she's been doing good. She's been relaxing with it being summer vacation and all. Though I think I heard she's been getting asked out recently."

A sly look overcame her blue eyes, "I guess I'm the lucky one though."

 _Yes! Perfect follow up. Alright, how'd you like that, Shutaura?_

"It does look like the Trinity are doing well. That's good." The brunette said, with a blush on her face. "You guys should keep it up."

 _Hehe, got ya to blush!_ Naru mentally patted herself on the back on getting back in the groove as something caught her attention. "Eh? Keep it up? What do you mean?"

"From what I've heard from the higher-ups, they've concluded that the Trinity as a group has proven unexpectedly beneficial. It's been able to keep the three of you from going off the rails. Or at least has proven able to minimize the damage when you do."

Naru hummed in thought, before replying. "Well, we do try to help each other out before any one of us feels the need to go off the reservation. But that's what friends do all the time isn't it? Our group isn't anything special."

Her date offered her a doubtful stare.

"You do remember that most groups of friends aren't a trio of Level 5s, right? Two of which have well developed reputations for _trouble_?"

"You're talking about me, right?" Naru asked with a frown.

"No, surprisingly I'm not." Shutaura confirmed, to Naru's relief. "You've shown amazing restraint since the Trinity formed."

"You make it sound like I was a loose cannon before that."

"Maybe not that bad, but your behavior did worry some of the higher ups at times."

"Who? Monaka?"

"And a few others."

"Because I get a little bloodthirsty at times?" The Number 2 said with a snort. "The hypocrites!"

"I don't disagree with you there. But you have to admit that at your most bloodthirsty, you can be quite worrying."

Suddenly a nearby ornamental clocktower tolled, in response Shutaura turned to look at the clock and frowned.

Turning back to Naru, she offered her an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid I have to call this… date short."

"Eh? What's the rush?" Naru directed a cheeky smile at her. "You pulling a Cinderella on me?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I have a mission tonight."

"Ladylee sent you on a date with me today even though you have a mission planned tonight?" Naru asked with a frown.

"Does it surprise you?" Shutaura shot back with a shrug. "She's done crazier things."

"Like what?" Naru asked, skeptically. Ladylee was known to be eccentric, yes, but she didn't have much of a reputation for insane stunts.

The Level 4's face seemed to sizzle from the blush on her cheeks.

"Like asking me to… k-kiss you today."

"W-What? W-Why?" Naru stuttered, her cheeks burning. And she readily ignored the laughing from her tenant. He'd pay later.

Shutaura, who by now was blushing so hard that she resembled a tomato, explained. "Ladylee-sama insisted that one of the pictures I took today would be of us sharing a kiss. She claims that it would be a great memento for the day. She also said that if I don't get one, she'll make me go on more dates until I do."

 _What? That's perfect! All I have to do is refuse, then she'll_ need _to go on a second date with me._

 _ **And alienate Shutaura in the process.**_ Kurama warned.

 _Damnit. Good point. Alright, Naru, play it cool._ Taking a deep breath, the blonde said. "Then let's kiss. It can't be that hard."

"Right. Thanks."

"No problem." Naru said as nonchalantly as possible, even as her heart pounded in anticipation.

With that Shutaura pulled out her phone and angled it for a shot, even as she leaned her face down towards Naru's as the blonde herself tiptoed to bring her face in line with hers.

As their lips met in a chaste kiss. Naru felt a spark run through her even as an indescribable warmth bloomed in her chest. It was just a innocent kiss, but to Naru? It felt like a thousand fireworks had went off all at once in her heart.

The flash went off and Shutaura pulled back, her lips curling into a small smile as her hands brushed against those dreamy lips of hers.

"I-I believe that will do." Shutaura said, her voice shaky, but professional.

"Hehehe." Naru giggled, her stomach felt like it was doing flips but she felt so excited, so giddy. Like she was on cloud nine!

"Oh! What a beautiful picture!" A familiar voice said from nearby, startling the couple. "I'm going to totally treasure this reminder of my cute Kohai's first relationship ability~."

Pausing just when she was about to twirl. Yes, twirl. Naru looked to see who had spoken to her, even if she had an inkling as to who it was. After all, only one person would use the term 'relationship ability'.

Though it wasn't just a single person. No, every person around her had star-like pupils and each was smiling in her direction.

It would honestly have been unnerving if she wasn't so used to this type of things.

"M-Misaki-Sempai? How, why? Were you following me?!"

"Yup, it's me." [Mental Out] said with her typical aplomb while striking one of her poses. "So how do did you like this date I set up for you?"

"You set this up?" Shutaura asked in shock, taking a step back. "Alongside Ladylee-sama?"

A woman in a business suit giggled, "Totally. Now, you both owe me one~! My cupid power is unparalleled, right?"

"Stupid busybody..." Naru said with a shake of her head.

"Oh, but I'm only looking out for your best interests, my adorable little Kohai. After all the chaos you've gone through lately, I thought you'd appreciate a chance to unwind with your crush."

"C-Crush?" Shutaura sputtered out in shock, looking at Naru with a growing look of realization and a bright blush.

"Though of course if she made my little Kohai cry from heartbreak, I'd be perfectly ready to defend your honor!" A trio of Tokiwadai girls chirped, looking ready to tussle.

"Shut up! And get lost you voyeur!" Naru snapped, her face red in embarrassment and tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

She was so embarrassed right now that she just wanted to die in a hole!

"Hehehe, though I must say you are a bold kisser. So needy! You two demonstrated truly adorable power~! Now, Sequenzia-san, be sure to treat my Kohai well alright? She's a delicate flower." A young waiter wagged a finger at the brunette.

To Naru's shock, Shutaura nodded. Though from the confused look in her eyes, she wasn't sure how aware she was of what exactly she was doing. Though this didn't stop Naru's heart from exploding in happiness at the sight.

Not that she could focus on that now, not with Misaki-Sempai still being all voyeur here.

"It wasn't anything like that!" Naru protested, before she grew stern and issued an deadly threat. "Don't make me call Saten-chan! I hear she has Accel on speed dial too! Maybe they can go pay you a visit together!"

An older woman pouted at her, "Oh pooh. Let's not resort to threats. It was all in good fun. I am your Onee-sama after all, no? Your love power for me is too strong."

"Saten is your Kohai too! Maybe she needs relationship advice? Bringing along her boyfriend just makes it easier, no?"

"I like you more."

"Don't make me really make the call! By the way, and I'm honest here, please do go talk to Saten-chan. She's really dating that psycho so needs help. ASAP."

"What?" Shutaura asked in shock, looking at Naru in shock. "Those two unstable Level 5s are dating each other!?"

Both Naru and Misaki-Sempai ignored her.

"Are you insane? If Accelerator finds out, he'll be gunning for my head! I like my living ability~!" Squeaked an elder woman who had been drinking tea.

"Not if Saten-chan tells him not to. She has him wrapped around her little finger. Like. Legit."

"He'll still hate my guts! And all it'll take is her to be busy one day and for something to set him off. Sorry, but I like my intestines inside my body."

"Fine. Just stop p-peeking on me! Please!" Naru petulantly stomped her foot. She wanted to enjoy her romantic moments with just her date!

Misaki-Sempai just smirked and Naru groaned in disappointment.

 _Looks like we're in a stalemate._ Naru noted with a frustrated growl.

Much to Naru and Shutaura's benefit, an unexpected arrival shook things up. Without any warning, a spiky haired brunette young man dressed in a white uniform with his jacket over his shoulders as a makeshift cape, a Rising Sun shirt and a white headband on his forehead burst onto the scene.

This was Sogiita Gunha, the City's infamous Number 9 of the Level 5s.

"Gunha-Sempai?!" Naru gasped in surprise at seeing her fellow Gemstone.

"Oi?! [Mental Out]! Don't you know it's rude to take over a bunch of people trying to enjoy their day? Where are you for real? I think you need a lecture!"

"Tch, an annoying wasp has appeared." A florist clicked his tongue as the stars faded from his eyes, along with those of most of the people in the area.

"Escaping?! I think not, you walking Earwig!"

"Earwig?! How rude!" A young girl from Private Shidarezakura Academy snapped at him. "I'll have you kno-"

"Gotcha!" Gunha-Sempai shouted as he picked up the girl. The stars faded from her eyes and the girl screamed. "Oh, sorry about that Miss."

He put her down and started running around the _School Garden_. His shouts and Misaki-Sempai's screams echoing throughout the area.

"Well, the pest is gone." Naru said, offering a bashful smile to Shutaura.

The older girl nodded, and with a smile of her own addressed Naru. "Now, I can finally say goodbye to you properly."

"Properly? What do you have in mind?"

"I might not be much of a romantic, but I know enough to know that it's expected to give your date a kiss goodbye."

"But-"

Whatever Naru was about to say was cut off as Shutaura grabbed her and pulled her into a kiss. It was sloppier than their first kiss, but Naru didn't mind it at all. Drinking it in, her blue eyes turned half-lidded as she melted into the kiss. It was wild but it made the fireworks from earlier feel like a matchstick in comparison.

As she pulled back form the kiss, the blonde Level 5 stood there with a bright red dumbfounded look on her face.

"... _Wow_."

"I'm glad I took Crow 2's suggestion seriously." Shutaura muttered under her breath.

Hearing this, Naru's cheeks faded into a rosy pink. "Y-Your men offered you tips on what to do during our date?"

Shutaura blushed and hastily defended herself. "It's my first date. I-I needed suggestions."

"Well, I'm glad you listened."

"Me too."

"Well, I really need to go now. So…" Shutaura offered apologetically.

"Oh right, your mission. Uh, just go. I'll be fine."

Shutaura shot her a doubtful look.

 _ **Oh! This is**_ **too** _ **awkward, even for me.**_ Kurama said from the depths of her mind, his voice dripping with annoyance. _**Just teleport away, you've both said your goodbyes so there's no need to drag this out any further.**_

 _I wish I could._

 _ **What drag this out more?**_

 _Yeah._

 _ **You can next time, I think she'll be up for it. Now, teleport away like a cool girl.**_

"Right, then I'll get out of your hair." Naru said with a tinge of regret. Offering her date a wave, she teleported away from what had been one of the best times in her life.

* * *

 **Done and done!**

 **Thanks to the Team of Nameless as always.**

 **Ha, love, romance! Yuri. Truly, is there nothing better? I think it was a sweet moment for the two. Seeing Naru's crush finally ask her out was nice. Also, seeing the Rabbit Faction go crazy was funny too. And no, Chao isn't that Chao, but she's still stupid smart. Who knows, maybe we can use her more often as time goes on.**

 **Nameless: Gonna preempt any criticisms about us having too many lesbians in our fics. This isn't a political statement. This is just us loving yuri. No more, no less.**

 **Onto other matters, we finally fleshed out the Rabbit Faction. We even created a new OC to be it's second-in-command. This despite our worries about character bloat. Which, by the way, was why except for Chao none of the other Rabbits were named. Naming a character, to our understanding at least, gives them significance and an expectation of them appearing and receiving at least some expansion eventually. So we tend to keep that to the minimum, so don't expect any new named Rabbits for the foreseeable future.**

 **E4E: Viva La Yuri-ism!**

 **You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Twenty Nine: Histoire D'amour** **Trois**

 **Beta:**

* * *

Misaka Mikoto, 5th ranked Level 5 and the most powerful electromaster in Academy City, had had a eventful summer so far. What with learning she had thousands of clones, getting into a deadly battle with the psychotic Number 1, saving Janie and Febrie, and unraveling multiple conspiracies, eventful might be an understatement.

That was all in the past however, and today at least she was determined to have a relaxing day out on the town. One without sinister plots, insane murderers, magicians, or crazy kohai. Why was today so important? Well, it was because it was the _the second last_ day of her summer vacation. As such she was utterly determined not to allow it to be ruined.

 _Alright, let's see what I can do._ Mikoto thought as she pulled out a _book_ of what she had originally lined up for summer fun but had been forced to forego thanks to all the madness. Finally, she could do something enjoyable!

The chestnut haired girl nearly let loose a tear of joy at the thought.

 _Summer, you aren't dead yet! Let's spend this time together one last time!_

Was she being overdramatic? Yes, yes she was but with all that's happened to her she was allowed to be, darn it.

Unfortunately for our intrepid protagonist, her plans hit its very first road bump the moment she stepped foot out of the Tokiwadai Exterior Dormitories.

 _Science why?_ Mikoto cried in her mind as she saw who was approaching her.

Her first impulse was to shock her apparent stalker. The Level 5 could handle her unwanted fan club, she could deal with little kids wanting her autograph, but stalkers just annoyed her to no end. It was just too bad that this particular stalker was one she could not deal with in her usual manner, by virtue of being the grandson of the director of Tokiwadai Middle School, Unabara Mitsuki.

He was a reasonably handsome older boy with neatly combed dark-brown hair, and was always dressed in a very orderly fashion. He could even be called cool and elegant. Which was totally not Mikoto's type.

For a moment the image of a familiar high schooler with spiky black hair entered her mind's eyes.

 _Gah, what am I thinking?! As if I'd l-like some punk like him!_ Mikoto shouted in her mind as she shook her head furiously. That managed to banish the thought from her mind but sadly, that distracted her a little too much and her stalker caught up to her.

"Misaka-san, good morning." The pest that had been bugging her since the end of the Silent Party Incident said in his annoyingly polite manner.

A strained smile came across Mikoto's face. _Be polite, be polite, do not shock the grandson of the director of your school._

"Good morning, Unabara-san." Mikoto returned the greeting with as much poise as she could muster.

"Where are you going today?"

"Just out on the town." The electromaster hedged.

"Then I'll accompany you." The boy said with a charming smile.

It did nothing for Mikoto though. All she felt was annoyance. She'd tried every polite way she could think of to discourage him, but Unabara had been determined to follow her wherever she went the past few days. Much to her unending frustration.

 _Maybe I can call the others for some advice. Even if Saten is clueless, I'm sure Namikaze at least has some experience with stuff like this._ Mikoto mused, before her thoughts took a sudden, darker turn. _Failing that… Well, Saten is chummy with Accelerator isn't she? Wonder what it would take to get her to call him in to scare this idiot off?_

"I'd hate to bother you with that. I'm sure you have more important things to do."

 _Like not bothering me!_

Mikoto was about to despair when she saw her way out of this mess. Just down the street, Kamijou was walking down the street with two of his friends.

Acting quickly to rid herself of Unabara's unwanted company, Mikoto mustered up a winning smile and walked towards [Imagine Breaker].

Waving at the spiky haired brunette, she caught the high schooler off guard and called out to him. "Sorry for making you wait, Touma-kun. Hope you weren't waiting long."

The startled young man blinked in confusion even as his two friends, a blonde in shorts and a green shirt with white floral patterns, reminiscent of stereotypical Hawaiian shirts and a bluenette with earstuds, looked at him with looks of shock and betrayal.

"Kami-yan! You didn't!" The blonde said, sounding at once playful, proud and somehow also betrayed.

Kamijou opened his mouth to say something, presumably in his own defense but was preempted by his other friend.

"You said we'd go hang out, but that was just an excuse so we'd walk you here to meet up with your girlfriend!" The bluenette said sounding scandalized. "What a friend! You never told me that this was your type?! What a betrayal!"

Taking the plunge, Mikoto wrapped her arms around his torso and looked up at him with a bashful look.

"Now we can go on our date!"

 _Haha! The perfect plan! Take that, you stalker!_

"Eh? Misaka-sama has a boyfriend?"

"Oho, how bold to meet in front of the dorm."

"Onee-sama, how could you betray Kuroko like this?!"

Mikoto paused and looked up, seeing the sea of her schoolmates looking down at her from the second floor of her dormitory.

At the sight, her face turned scarlet.

 _I'll never hear the end of this._

Looking at Unbara's shocked look though, Mikoto couldn't help but think that it would be totally worth it.

* * *

Kamijou Touma was sitting at a cafe with his acquaintance Misaka Mikoto, the Number 5 known as the notorious [Railgun]. It wasn't anything planned. Instead, the domineering Level 5 had basically forced him to take her out on a 'fake date' out of the blue when he was just minding his own business on a day out with his classmates.

"So that guy's been bothering you?" He asked as they sat at a table outside.

Misaka nodded, a grumbly pout on her face.

"Yeah."

"You're Biri-Biri though… why don't you just shock him?"

"...You make it sound like I'm super violent or something!" She glared at him and Touma held his hands up with a nervous laugh.

"N-Not at all! I mean, it sounded like the, uh, reasonable thing to do?"

"He's someone important, so I couldn't do that. T-That is to say, even if I could I wouldn't of course!" She hastily told him.

 _Why do I not believe that at all?_ Touma thought to himself.

He wasn't stupid enough to tell her that though, so instead he continued trying to get an idea on what was going on instead.

"So you're using this 'fake date' thing to convince him that you're going out with me in order to get him to lose interest?"

"Exactly!" The chestnut haired electromaster agreed with a proud nod of her head, as if her harebrained scheme was some genius idea.

"Uh, I'm happy to help and all but I kinda still have my summer homework to do." Touma admitted sheepishly as he pulled out some papers from his pocket.

"Still? It's almost the last day of summer break already." Misaka-san noted with stern disapproval.

"Y-Yeah, hahaha." He laughed awkwardly. It was not like it was _his_ fault that he never got the time to get started on it. Between all the shenanigans that he got caught up in, it was a miracle he'd managed to squeeze out today to go to the library with his mates to work on it like he'd originally planned. Though it seemed that plan was ruined now too.

 _Fukou da!_

"Man, how hopeless." The Level 5 sighed and she scooted closer to him, causing Touma to wince. "Let me see it."

"Huh?"

"Hurry, and show me. Maybe I can help."

It was high school work, so he didn't know how a middle schooler could possibly be any help but he reasoned it wouldn't hurt to let her try. By this point he was desperate enough to try almost anything.

As such, he pulled the rest of the papers out of his back pocket. He blinked as she eagerly grabbed them and pulled out a pen.

"Oh! It's just a basic math review." Misaka-san laughed as her pen started jotting down answers.

"W-Wow, how are you answering all those so fast?"

"Hehe, I'm a Level 5." Misaka-san smirked at him like the Ojou-sama she was. "My computational power is pretty high up there. Plus we recently learned this before the break."

 _Aren't you in middle school though?_ Touma refrained from saying aloud.

"And done! Looks like you owe me one. Like say with a fake date?" She asked, waving the papers around.

"I-I guess?" Touma said uncertainly, still shocked by her being able to so effortlessly finish what would have had him stumped for hours at best or more likely days.

Though she _had_ finished his homework for him, so he guessed that he owed her. Besides she wouldn't let him go easily even if he did try to back out of this farce.

 _I don't have a choice. I've just gotta play along._

With a resigned sigh, the perpetually unfortunate boy fully committed to his fate. "So what exactly do real couples do anyways? I've never had a girlfriend so it's not like I'd know."

"We could sit here and talk right? I mean, couples probably do that right?" Misaka-san said, looking down at her skirt as her cheeks seemed to glow pink.

"Makes sense. So, how are your Level 5 friends? That one girl looked pretty bad from her run-in with the Number 1."

"Ah! Both Namikaze and Saten have regenerative abilities, so they're both fine." Misaka-san sighed. "Really, it's a pretty useful ability."

"Still," Touma said disbelievingly. "The Number 3 got impaled, right? How do you just get better overnight from something like that?"

"From what she told me, lots of sleep and a balanced breakfast." Misaka-san said outlandishly, disbelief on her face.

"Geez, you Level 5s are nuts." Touma scratched his head. "So what about that teleporter friend of yours? She was there and hurt too, right?"

"Yeah, she got knocked out and was banged up a bit. Nothing a good's night sleep couldn't solve." Mikoto informed him. "She was there back at the dorm. Didn't you see her?"

"Huh? She was? I must have missed her."

"I-I guess you were just too distracted." Misaka-san said, a little smile on her face.

He cocked a brow at that, how could he not when she was hanging off of him. It was hard to walk, where the hell would he have found the ability to focus on his surroundings.

"Oh! You should know, the Sisters are doing great."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Heaven Canceler and the Superintendent have made sure of that."

"Heaven Canceler?"

"Eh, you know? The frog faced doctor?"

"Oh! His name is Heaven Canceler?" Touma blinked. Now he actually felt embarrassed since he had never asked for the doctor's name before despite the man having saved his life on what must have been countless occasions by now. What bad manners.

"Yeah, strange huh?"

Considering his roommate…

"In this City? Not really."

Misaka-san paused for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"Right, so anyways, only about ten Sisters are in the City going through rehabilitation and having their bodies repaired."

"Repaired?"

"They were mass produced clones that weren't meant to live long, so the scientists that made them cut some corners to make them cheaper to produce."

Touma clicked his tongue at that, the very thought at how lives were being thrown away like that left a sour taste in his mouth. Thankfully the Sisters were doing okay now.

"What about the rest? I mean there were a lot more than just ten clones, right?"

"The rest are receiving their treatments outside the City."

Touma cocked his eyebrows in suspicion. "Outside the City? Where the technology is at least a decade behind us? Isn't that a little odd?"

"I don't know." Misaka-san frowned. "Saten and Namikaze thinks that the Superintendent is up to something, but neither of them knows what exactly."

"Well, let's hope whatever he's up to it won't involve us." Touma paused for a moment before he palmed his face. "I just jinxed myself didn't I?"

"Knowing your luck? Probably."

He rubbed the back of his neck and let out an awkward laugh.

"I'm going to grab us some drinks. It's pretty hot out here." Misaka-san said while fanning her face. "And preferences?"

"Nah, I'll take whatever."

"Hehe." She gave him an evil little smile. "If you say so~"

Touma felt a chill down his spine. "Wait! Iced Tea! Just get me Iced Tea!"

"Boo, you're no fun." Misaka-san said with a pout. "Fine, Iced Tea it is."

Breathing a sigh of relief, the [Imagine Breaker] collapsed back into his seat.

Misaka-san was queuing at the counter when Touma decided to deal with the thing that he'd been putting off for some time now. No, not his homework! Rather, the young man lurking in the shade of the trees a short distance away.

"Yo," Touma called out to Misaka-san's stalker. "Why don't you come over and have a seat? I'd like to talk to you."

The preppy looking boy walked on over, a smile on his face as he took the seat Misaka-san was just in.

"Sorry to bother you." The boy said, a sad smile on his face now. "I just wanted to see if you were treating Misaka-san right. She's such a nice girl… man, you're really lucky huh?"

Him? Lucky? Clearly this Oji-sama hadn't heard of his horrible luck.

"So you were just watching out for her?" Touma asked. He didn't seem stalker-y to him, at least not much.

Unabara-san laughed, "I've been trying to get her to go on a date with me for a while now. Seems I'm not what she's looking for. You'll look out for her right?"

Ah, now Touma was starting to feel like the bad guy here.

"Sure, Biri-Biri can get in over her head at times. If she needs help, of course I'd lend a hand."

His smile strained at that, but nodded in acceptance. He turned to see Misaka-san paying for their drinks and he got up.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Kamijou-kun. Have a good day."

He walked away just as Misaka-san returned holding both their drinks and a frown on her face.

"Was that Unabara-san?"

"Yeah."

"What did he want?"

"Just wanted to make sure I took good care of you."

"W-What?" The Level 5 squeaked, her cheeks turning red.

"Look, the dude came over to make sure I'd be good for you that's all." Touma elaborated. "He wasn't angry that it looked like I'd stolen his girl or anything like that. I dunno about you, but I think the guy might genuinely like you."

"Then what about the stalking?" Misaka-san in a strained voice as she collapsed into a chair, looking conflicted.

"Some guys aren't exactly good with the dating thing, so maybe he just didn't know how to go about asking you out properly and it came across as, um, stalkerish? Is that even a word?"

"No," the genius middle schooler replied automatically. "But that's not the issue here. So what exactly are you trying to say?"

 _Now for the tricky part._ Touma thought to himself nervously, even as he knew it was the right thing to do.

"Look, why don't we put an end to this fake date thing and, maybe, just maybe, you give Unabara-san a chance?"

For some reason, the [Railgun] actually looked hurt at his suggestion. It was almost as if she _wanted_ to spend time with him. But that couldn't be right, could it? There was no way an Ojou-sama like her would want to waste time with a scruffy, nobody like him.

"I guess you're right. If Unabara-san isn't really a stalker… Then I guess I don't need to scare him off with a fake date." The girl agreed with a disappointed sigh.

Again, what was with that?

"Then again," the rich girl continued. "I did kinda waste your whole morning, so why don't I repay you for it."

Touma's conscience told him to refuse her generosity, but his almost empty wallet easily drowned its cries out. After all, feeding two people and a cat on a high schooler's allowance wasn't exactly easy.

"How about lunch? Then afterwards I'll go meet up with Unabara-san to talk to him."

The disappointment in her tone didn't escape him and it continued to boggle his mind as to why she sounded like that.

Not that it factored much into his enthusiastic nod in agreement. There were few things that would convince him to turn down free food.

* * *

Despite his wilder ideas about fancy restaurants and the like, in the end Misaka-san decided to take him over to a nearby fast food restaurant for lunch.

 _Guess she's not that much of a typical Ojou-sama after all._ He mused.

"Damn, it looks crowded." The tomboy noted as she eyed the packed sitting area. "I don't think there's any space for us. Hmm. Tell you what, I'll queue and buy us each a meal on the go and we can eat it in the park. That sound good?"

"I can wait with you, you know." He offered kindly.

"N-No! I invited you, so it should be my job. Alright?" She said in alarm, her face glowing again. The heat must really be getting to her. "Besides, the park might be crowded too so we need someone to go save us a place."

"I guess I can handle that." He nodded, agreeing with her logic.

"Good, good." She nodded, though it felt like it was mostly to herself for some reason. Weird.

Deciding to follow Misaka-san's suggestion, Touma stepped out of the restaurant and walked towards the park to save them a spot. He was just crossing the street into the public garden, when the [Imagine Breaker] spotted Unabara-san once more hiding in the shade.

Seeing Unabara-san again made him blink, but he assumed he was still checking Touma out. He felt a little indignant about it especially after their earlier conversation where he'd thought they had ironed things out but he suppressed it. These rich kids could be super suspicious he guessed.

"Ah! Kamijou-kun, fancy meeting you here." The man said nervously. Clearing he didn't expect to be caught in the act again so soon.

"Um, I guess?"

"So still making sure that I'd take care of Misaka-san?"

"I guess." The man said uncertainly.

What was he uncertain about? Was he so confused about his feelings that he couldn't be sure what was going on?

 _Well, maybe I can chat with him a little to make him feel a little better?_

As they talked, Touma caught something in the corner of his eye.

A guy that looked exactly like Unabara-san.

"Hey, do you have a twin brother or something? Because I think I spotted your doppelganger if you don't."

"I'm an only child, Kamijou-kun. A doppelganger might be possible, though I don't think there's enough people in the City for any of those. Maybe you were seeing things?"

Touma highly disagreed.

* * *

Mikoto was just walking out of the fast food restaurant when she was blindsided by Unabara-san.

"Misaka-san!" The strangely winded boy said as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Unabara-san? W-What's going on?" Mikoto asked worriedly. The hunted look in the man's eyes was triggering her danger sense, honed from all the stuff she'd been going through lately, like crazy.

"I-I," He panted, hands on his knees as he gulped down air, "Have you seen me recently?!"

"Uh, yes?" She answered unsure where he was going with this.

"That wasn't me!" He said insistently.

"Huh?"

"I was attacked a few days ago." He told her hastily, his eyes wide with panic. "A man, he captured me then used some strange Esper power to change himself to look like me. He said something about wanting to target you. I've just managed to escape and I've b-been looking for you ever since!"

Mikoto's skin paled as her brain put two and two together. It was only a few days ago that Unabara-san had been seeking her out.

"Let me guess, you were captured a few days ago?"

"Yes," the boy said with a firm nod.

 _That's when "he", or rather the shapeshifter, started stalking me._ Mikoto concluded in relief. As much as she had been unsettled by the stalking, she was equally uneasy about rejecting someone as influential as Unbara-san. A shapeshifting criminal stalker though? Not so much.

"Onee-sama~!" Kuroko cried out as she teleported in from nowhere.

She was brought out of her thoughts when her roommate glomped her tightly.

"K-Kuroko?! What are you doing here?"

"Now's not the time, Onee-sama." Her Kohai scolded her. "We have a potentially dangerous impostor that's the priority right now! Who knows what he could be up to at the moment?"

Mikoto didn't totally agree. Figuring out whether Kuroko was following her was very important in her opinion, however she did see the point.

"Fine." The electromaster said with a reluctant sigh. "Unabara-san, we'll take things from here. Thanks for warning us, we have things under control from now on."

"Are you sure?" Unabara-san asked nervously.

Both Tokiwadai students nodded at the older boy.

Reluctantly, the boy sighed and turned to walk away.

Mikoto and Kuroko stood there watching to make sure that the civilian was safely out of the area, when the air suddenly resounded with the sound of a collapsing building. Mikoto turned to the source of the noise and saw a large cloud of dust coming from a nearby construction yard. At the sight, her gut twisted and she inhaled sharply.

Her eyes scanned around, looking for that spiky haired idiot. Not seeing that familiar mop of black hair had her gut twisting in the opposite direction.

Tossing the food she'd just bought onto a nearby bench, she turned to Kuroko.

"That idiot." She cursed under her breath. "Kuroko! Get us there now!"

Pointing towards the construction site, her twin-tailed Kohai nodded and grabbed her arm.

With a shift of dimensions, the two appeared high in the air, hovering above the construction site before teleporting once more to the ground. They appeared behind a stack of steel girders inside the settling dust cloud to see the blockhead standing over Unabara-san's doppelganger who he seemed to have punched into one of the steel pillars that was supporting the half-built building. Hard enough to topple it over and cause the partial collapse that had shocked them earlier.

The Level 0 loomed over the doppelganger, his face looking chipped and flaking.

"So want to explain what you're up to 'Unabara-san'?" Kamijou said. "Or should I call you something else? Don't want to be rude after all. Like you. So spill, right now."

'Unabara-san' coughed and glared at Kamijou.

"Tch, you have no idea what you're doing, do you? I was sent to Academy City to evaluate _your_ threat level."

"I'm not all that threatening." Kamijou interjected. "Besides, if you were checking me out, why would you be hanging out with Misaka-san?"

"She's part of your faction isn't she?"

"Faction?" Kamijou asked in confusion, echoing Mikoto's own thoughts on the matter.

"Are you stupid?!" The imposter snapped. "That damn Kamijou Faction of yours! You have the Librorum Prohibitorum, the Anglican Church, as well as the Trinity of Tokiwadai at your call. You are threatening the balance of the world. That is what the Kamijou Faction is. An unstable but influential group that could very well destroy the fragile balance of power that has kept this world together."

Kamijou just scratched his head in confusion.

"Onee-sama, are we really part of this 'Kamijou Faction'?" Kuroko demanded in a whisper and with a glare.

"No," Mikoto said with a shake of her head. "At least I don't think so. I mean, he's my friend. Namikaze and Saten knows him too. So I guess we'd help him if he asked, but we're hardly part of his faction."

Kuroko nodded. "But to outsiders?"

"Yeah, I can see why they'd be worried especially if he really has so many other allies."

"And my true target wasn't just you, Kamijou Touma." The impostor said, continuing his explanation. "It was every member of your faction. I was going to sow discord and shatter your relations. That were the orders I received from my superiors in the Return of the Winged One."

"Return of the Winged One? Do all you Magicians have to pick silly names for your organisations?" Kamijou frowned.

"Magicians?" Kuroko said with a sneer. "Is your friend stupid? Magic isn't real."

"It is." Mikoto said firmly. "I'll explain later, but just know that it is."

"You make me worry, Onee-sama."

Unaware of the girls' presence, the two men kept talking.

"That's a pretty mean thing to do when we haven't done anything to you and yours." Kamijou told the magician.

 _If this is how Magicians usually operate, I can see why Saten 'dislikes' them._ Mikoto growled a little. Jumping out of her hiding spot, she marched forward and jabbed her finger at the faker. "Listen up buddy, you should be grateful this lughead was the one who got to you first. If you had done this to Saten or Namikaze, I doubt you'd live to regret it."

"Ah, Misaka-san. Um, sorry for the disturbance." Kamijou said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Onee-sama! That's unfair! Saten-san and Namikaze-san aren't that bad." Kuroko said, jumping into the conversation.

Mikoto called foul on that, how could Kuroko still hold delusions about their more bloodthirsty friends? Even Kamijou was giving the teleporter a disbelieving look. Heck, even the magician was shooting her an unimpressed glare.

"Uh, so they might have a body count…" Kuroko said with an uneasy shifting of her feet. "Still! It's not proper to say that about friends."

"You do know that Namikaze-san is this City's resident anti-magician enforcer and Saten-san has a burning hatred against my kind, right? Neither of them would bat an eye if I was killed, and in fact would likely love to be the one to do the deed."

Sometimes she just wanted to hug her Kohai and protect her from the world. She was still so innocent and pure. Er, well, not pure but...

"And that's why I concentrated on Misaka-san first." 'Unabara-san' grinned as he held up a wicked looking dagger.

"Thanks for waiting!" The magician said as he lashed out with his dagger and _somehow_ firing off some kind of laser beam from it.

The sudden attack threw them all off guard. Mikoto cursed, she should have taken him down, let Kuroko restrain him, something!

"Shit! He conjured a new dagger. I didn't know he could do that. Fukou da!" Kamijou said as he and the girls dodged out of the way.

"Stop complaining Kamijou and fight!" Mikoto snapped as electricity arced off her body and she flung a bolt in the Magician's direction.

"Watch out for his lasers! They are pretty powerful."

"How powerful?" Kuroko shouted back, thus giving away her position and making her a target.

To protect her roommate, Mikoto decided to preempt him by firing off another bolt of electricity at the magician. She hit empty air though, as he managed to roll out of the way and angled his dagger in Kuroko's direction.

The teleporter escaped in the nick of time as the ground was transformed by the intense light into what looked like _molten_ pools.

 _Magic is bullshit!_ Mikoto shouted in her mind. _There's no way a laser should be that powerful! Or somehow split things into their constituent elements if the magnetic feel I'm getting from those pools is saying anything. Damn! I really don't want to see what that could do to a human body._

"Oi! Over here!" Kamijou said, waving his hands at the Magician. As he wanted, the magician promptly angled his laser at him.

"You idiot!" Mikoto shouted as she used her electricity to pull herself in his direction in hopes of pushing him out of the way.

She needn't have bothered, as Kamijou simply braced himself and blocked the laser with his right hand, negating the deadly beam with the sound of shattered glass.

"Tch. [Imagine Breaker]. What an annoying ability."

Despite the circumstances, Mikoto couldn't help but agree with the magician.

"Yeah, how about mine then?" Kuroko cried as she sent a series of nails into his body.

"Impressive," the magician said with a smile. "But nothing particularly dangerous."

With that statement his skin started to peel off his body like a snake's, Kuroko's nails somehow falling to the ground alongside his shed outer layer.

Still wearing the guise of Unabara-san, the magician smirked at his opponents.

"Okay, that's just gross." Kamijou grimaced as Mikoto landed next to him.

Kuroko wrinkled her nose. "I am feeling woefully under equipped."

"Can you both can it?" Mikoto scowled at them as she used her magnetism to pull a nearby steel girder and launch it at the magician.

His laser blasted it, breaking it down into a multitude of different molten ores even as he dodged behind another stack of steel girders upon which the molten metal splashed harmlessly.

The Level 5 clicked her tongue, hoping that turning his fancy dagger against him would have worked. Unfortunately, it seemed he understood the limits of his weapon well and realized that while it could deconstruct her projectile, it couldn't fully negate her attack since many of the constituent elements of steel were still magnetic. The laser however also drained them of all of their inertia thus slowing her attack down, making it possible for him to more easily evade it.

Mikoto was expecting a counterattack but instead of retaliating against her like she thought was only logical, the magician instead decided to target the one of the two others who couldn't no-sell his dagger; Kuroko.

"Eep!" The twin-tailed girl squeaked as she teleported away from the path of the laser that would have broken her down into a science fair project.

"Oi! Twintail!" Touma called out. "You okay?"

"Don't call me that you barbarian!" Kuroko replied incessantly from her perch on one of the girders in the remaining skeleton of the building.

"Alright! Hey, Not-Unabara-san! I kinda noticed something. Mind answering a question?"

Mikoto resisted the urge to palm her face. Was he being serious?!

"Were your feelings for Misaka-san false too?"

"Of course not," the magician replied from his hiding spot. "I never needed to go as far as I did to ingratiate myself with her. That I did so, was entirely on my own initiative."

 _E-EH?!_ Mikoto's face blew up into an atomic red. _What's this m-moron going on about?!_

"I do not approve! No one is allowed to stalk my Onee-sama!" Kuroko called out from her hiding spot, Mikoto nodding in agreement. "Only me!"

 _...I'm going to toast her when this is over._

"Is it so wrong for an imposter to have feelings for his target?"

"Very much so!" Kuroko said vehemently.

He fired at Kuroko once again but the Level 4 just teleported out of the way.

Despite that and without breaking a sweat, the magician continued his rant.

"No, there is nothing wrong with an impostor like me having feelings for Misaka-san." The obsessed magician asserted strongly.

Mikoto blushed brilliantly at that.

"I'm flattered." Mikoto said, fidgeting slightly. "But if this is some crazy magical way of confessing, I gotta say it isn't working."

Besides, who knew how old he actually was! Magic was weird like that, right?

"This wasn't how I intended to do this, Misaka-san." The magician said sounding apologetic. "If only I didn't have this mission then I wouldn't have needed to lie. This is all Kamijou's fault!"

Kamijou blinked at that revelation, "Wait, huh?! My fault! That's really unfair Not-Unabara-san!"

"Onee-sama, this conversation is going in a very uncomfortable direction!" Kuroko cried out in frustration as she teleported a steel girder above the magician's hiding spot.

The magician's laser lashed out but not at the girder. Instead, it zeroed in on Kuroko where was standing next to another stack of girders.

 _You're telling me._ Mikoto tried to concentrate on the fight but it was next to impossible. One idiot was laying his heart out to her while the boy she was definitely _not_ interested in was right there listening!

"Damn! You really do have real feelings for her." Touma said with a sigh. "Oi! Magician-san, you do know attacking one of her friends isn't helping your case, right?"

"Just shut up and die already Kamijou Touma!"

 _This is my life now._ Mikoto took a deep breath.

"Onee-sama, barbarian! Don't just stand there! Attack the ne'er-do-well!" Kuroko cried out angrily as she teleported a whole pallet of construction material at what she must have thought was where the magician was hiding.

It threw up a cloud of dust, apparently the pallet had contained cement powder, but there was no sign of their opponent at all. Instead, all the Judgement agent got in return was another shot of that deadly laser which she was forced to teleport away from once again.

"This game of cat and mouse is getting tiresome." The magician said sounding annoyed. "I think it's about time to take this fight up a notch."

"Eh, what does he mean?" Kamijou said looking around nervously.

He almost immediately got his answer, as a series of popping sounds from around the construction site signaled the release of clouds of smoke. Abnormally thick smoke that managed to shroud the whole area in darkness.

"What the hell does this do? Make it easier for you to hide?" Mikoto asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, it's nothing so simple." The magician explained obligingly. "With the smoke obscuring ambient light, the light cast by my Spear of Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli will now be much more deadly."

That certainly didn't sound ominous at all.

As if to prove her fears, a beam of the magical light shot out of the darkness in Kamijou's direction. At least that's what appeared to be its target at first glance, though as the spiky haired boy jumped back in confusion instead of dispelling the beam, Mikoto realised the target had actually been the ground directly in front of him.

 _He missed? Wha-_

Her confusion was answered when a second beam fired out of the occluding smoke and struck a beam directly over Kamijou's head, causing molten droplets to plummet down towards the unfortunate boy.

Mikoto was sure that the Level 0 hadn't figured out the attack, but somehow acting on some unknown instinct he dodged and narrowly escaped being badly burned anyways.

"Light does not work this way!" Mikoto snapped, while gesturing to her darkened surroundings. Annoyed that magic was once more making her question her fundamental knowledge of the universe. "Making things darker doesn't make light more intense!"

"Actually, Onee-sama," Kuroko said as teleported next to the Level 5. "Considering that the darkness makes his laser stand out more, there might actually be merit to what the 'magician' said."

"Oi, Misaka! Your friend's right. Besides, magic is bullshit." Kamijou told her as he used that right hand of his to block another beam of light.

"That's rich coming from you, [Imagine Breaker]." The magician said with a chuckle. Even as Kuroko disappeared in a teleport, presumably to try to pinpoint the elusive magician.

"I was born this way."

"Doesn't make your ability any less bullshit." Mikoto groused.

"Hey! You're agreeing with the magician?" Kamijou shouted defensively, nearly drowning out the sounds of a struggle off in the smoke cloud.

Apparently Kuroko had caught up to the annoying shapeshifter.

Unfortunately, as the tawny haired girl was quickly sent flying out of the cloud with a pained grimace, it seemed the skirmish hadn't gone well for her. Thankfully, she quickly collected herself and teleported into a shaky landing next to Mikoto and Kamijou, even as the former sent a electric bolt in the direction where the teleporter had emerged from.

"First, the ability to change his appearance, then lasers and now some kind of enhanced strength? Is there no limits to the crazy things that _magic_ allows?"

"Limitless things, Shirai-san."

"Ugh." Kuroko groaned in annoyance. "This feels like fighting Saten-san all over again."

"Is she that bad?" Kamijou asked curiously.

"""Yes""" The three other combatants replied in unison.

"Okay~" The perpetually unfortunate boy said uneasily. "Glad I've never had to fight her."

"You're an unfair matchup for _that_ girl." The magician told Kamijou casually as he fired another laser above them aiming to shower him in molten material. Wise to his trick though, all three of his opponents easily dodged his attack. "You could probably kill her with a single touch of your right hand."

"Yeah," Kamijou acknowledged uneasily, even as he dispeled a laser headed towards Kuroko. "Misaka-san told me."

"What? Really?" Kuroko shouted in shock.

Mikoto just nodded.

The teleporter just turned to level a glare at the [Imagine Breaker], before saying in a deadly serious voice. "You are _never_ getting within ten feet of her. You hear me? _**Never**_!"

"Right. Gotcha!" The high schooler said hastily, clearly intimidated by the tawny haired girl's intensity.

"Forgetting about me?" The magician asked as he sent his laser sweeping across the beams over their heads and releasing a rain of molten material down upon them. There was so much of it pouring down, that they had nowhere to hide.

Mikoto acted quickly and gathered all the iron sand she could muster. Forming the ferric particles into a makeshift shield just in time, she protected them all from the deadly torrent.

"Why is he able to target us so well? Is he using magic?" Kuroko challenged as she dodged another beam of light and teleported across the construction yard.

"Haha, let's just say Academy City is full of useful gadgets. Like say, sonar imagery goggles."

Mikoto ground her teeth at that, "Why aren't people screened for that stuff! It's military grade too I bet!"

"Misaka-san," Her stalker's voice was chiding, as if she were a child, "the black market is a wonderful thing."

A thought ran through her mind as she threw a bolt of lightning towards where she heard the voice.

"Did you hit him?" Kamijou asked her.

"I think so. The EM emissions from his gadget was faint enough for me to mistake it for background radiation but now that I know it isn't… Yeah, I'm sure."

"That actually hurt." The magician whined, confirming that she'd been on target. "I guess I shouldn't have underestimated you, Misaka-san. Then again I never expected to actually have to fight you."

Deciding to capitalize on Mikoto's successful pinning down of his location once more and even managing to injure him, Kuroko immediately teleported away to confront the magician in close combat once more. Kamijou seemed to be of the same mind, as he ran into the smoke after her.

"Well, that's what you get for trying to hurt my friends." Mikoto shot back even as the sounds of a scuffle carried through the darkness and she too broke into a run in pursuit of her friends.

"Your friends are frustratingly tenacious, you know that Misaka-san?" The magician said, a slight wheeze in his voice.

"Of course!" Mikoto replied proudly.

"I see." The enemy said with a sigh. "Then I apologize in advance but I'm going to have to go for broke now."

"What do you mean?"

Without replying, a laser pierced the smoke and hit a girder which was promptly disassembled by the spell. Immediately, the whole structure groaned.

"Onee-sama!" Kuroko cried out worriedly as she teleported next to Mikoto and grabbed her arm. A moment later the duo were outside the construction site, looking in on the persistent cloud of black smoke and a steel frame of a unfinished building that was rapidly crumbling.

"Fukou da!" Kamijou cursed so loudly that the two girls heard him even over the sound of steel snapping.

"Kamijou!" Mikoto cried out worriedly as she reached out with her ferrokinesis to ensure that none of the falling pieces of steel crushed the boy.

Thankfully, the displacement of air caused by the collapse caused the smokescreen to finally start to part. It revealed Kamijou standing there amidst the rubble, seemingly unharmed with many steel girders laid all around him. At his feet and pinned down by one of the steel girders was the annoying magician still wearing Unabara-san's guise.

It looked like something out of a painting. Kamijou was the very picture of the triumphant hero standing over the defeated form of the villain, whilst surrounded by the ruined landscape that had been the product of their epic, climactic final duel.

As he turned to look at her, Mikoto couldn't help the blush that spread across her cheeks.

"Thanks for the save, Misaka-san." The conquering hero said, causing the maiden to blush even more brilliantly.

 _Ah, calm down, calm down!_ Mikoto begged her racing heart. "N-No problem."

Next to her, Kuroko was looking between Kamijou and her with narrowed, suspicious eyes but Mikoto ignored her odd behaviour. When _wasn't_ her roommate acting oddly?

"As heroic as always, Kamijou." The magician said, reminding everyone that he was still around. "I really should've expected this outcome once I got into a fight with you. You have defeated opponents more powerful than I can ever hope to be."

Kamijou just rubbed the back of his neck nervously and chuckled self-deprecatingly at the praise.

"But then again, that's what I'm counting on I guess." The pinned man continued. "Because this won't be the last attack against you or the rest of the Kamijou Faction. As such, I would like to ask you to protect Misaka-san. To be there whenever and wherever she needs you. Will you do that?"

"Of course." The hero said without a moment's hesitation.

Mikoto felt her knees go weak a little at that, her hands bunching in front of her chest.

It was sweet and kind and just… Gah! Was she swooning?!

Until Kuroko decided to ruin it!

"Who do you think you are!?" Kuroko screeched, incensed. "Onee-sama is perfectly capable of defending herself! And even if she couldn't, protecting Onee-sama is _my_ sworn duty!"

Her bangs hiding her eyes, Mikoto's fists tightened as she shouted, "Stop ruining the moment, Baka-Kuroko!"

As per standard, the Level 5 shocked her roommate until she was charred black.

"Uh, M-Misaka-san…" Kamijou said nervously, earning her attention. "Uh, you okay?"

Mikoto's face turned firetruck red as she quickly grabbed Kuroko, "Oi! T-teleport us right now! Kuroko!"

Miraculously recovering in an instant like she always seemed to be able to after being shocked, Kuroko jumped back to her feet and eagerly grabbed hold of Mikoto's arm.

"H-Hai~!" Kuroko drunkenly obliged.

* * *

The day after their various adventures was a Sunday and the Trinity was meeting up in Joseph's Coffee and Restaurant to swap stories.

After hearing her friends' stories, Kazari couldn't help but feel she missed out on a lot of things. Oh, she just had to be stuck working on updates at the office. It was such a great loss that she was almost on the verge of tears.

"All things considered, I think Mikoto-Sempai has the most interesting story." Saten-san stated with a decisive nod.

 _No, no, what you did was far too crazy to not be the most interesting._ Kazari disgreed in her mind.

It seemed she wasn't the only one with that opinion.

"Are you nuts? You saved the Sisters." Misaka-san pointed out, a grateful look on her face.

"Yeah! That's way more interesting then what we were doing. I mean, saving the day with your boyfriend. Must be nice to get your white whale." Namikaze-san wiggled her brows in amusement.

"He's not my boyfriend! Yet." Saten-san said, blushing prettily.

The sight had Kazari smiling brilliantly. It was amazing that Saten-san could show such emotion. It was yet another sign how far she'd come from the emotionally stunted girl she'd been when Kazari had first met her.

"Sure~! Like hell you aren't his girlfriend." The blonde rolled her eyes. "You have him so tightly wrapped around your finger yet you don't even know it."

Saten-san's cheeks dusted pink at that.

"Putting the status of your relationship aside. I can't see how you don't think that what you went through isn't the most interesting?" Shirai-san said with a exasperated shake of her head.

"It was pretty routine for me." Saten-san replied with a shrug, her cheeks still faintly pink from the earlier turn that the conversation had taken.

The flower crown wearing girl smacked her best friend lightly on the arm, "Stop being so modest, Saten-san! You did a great thing. Let us praise you."

"Eh? It was so boring though."

"Saten-san is truly impossible." Shirai-san sighed while shaking her head.

"Yep!" "Absolutely." The other Level 5s agreed.

"If you guys say so," Saten-san said with a skeptical nod.

"Moving away from Saten-chan. At least she and I had successful dates. Right, Sempai?" Namikaze-san teasingly said, her blue eyes dancing with mirth.

"I-I wasn't on a date, you Baka-Usagi!" Misaka-san stammered, her face red in embarrassment.

"Of course it was," Namikaze-san insisted with a broad mischievous smile. "What you call it doesn't matter. You spending an afternoon with a boy, getting all hot and sweaty… how bold!"

"We were fighting for our lives!"

"You were still spending time together. Clearly, it was a date."

"Naru-san brings up a good point, Sempai." Saten-san nodded.

"Sorry, Misaka-san, but I have to agree with Namikaze-san here." Kazari said with her own teasing smile.

"While Kuroko isn't happy to admit it, those do meet the requirements, Onee-sama." The twintailed Level 4 pursed her lips, "Still! Onee-sama, you could do much better then some scruffy nobody!"

The Level 1 noticed that Saten-san and Namikaze-san glanced at each other. Saten-san nodded while Namikaze-san shook her head in response.

"What are you two talking about?" Mikoto asked her fellow Level 5s. "Mind sharing with the rest of us?"

"Well, Kamijou-san is actually quite the big player in the Dark Side." Saten-san informed the rest of them. "That was the whole point why the magician attacked Mikoto-Sempai anyways. He was already considered dangerous and with his increasing number of friendships with powerful groups, his faction felt that Kamijou-san was amassing too much power."

The pigtailed imp that was Namikaze-san teasingly added, "Most of those friends of his are beauties I hear. I also heard he's amassing a harem to sate himself!"

"H-Harem?!" Misaka-san choked on her drink, pounding her chest to calm down.

"Yeah, I wonder whose his main~"

"Shut up! Shut up!" Misaka-san said with a brilliant blush on her face. She was so red that Kazari was almost surprised that there wasn't steam coming out of her ears.

Shirai-san had a menacing aura coming off of her, "He will not touch Onee-sama! I will protect her virtue!"

Inching over, Kazari whispered to her best friend, "Is what Namikaze-san saying true?"

"Kamijou-san's allies _are_ disproportionately female."

Her fellow Judgement member looked struck by the confirmation.

"D-Does that ape have no shame?! No, no! I will hunt him down if I have to!"

"It's not like that, Baka-Kuroko!" Misaka-san snapped, her face still a blazing scarlet.

Namikaze-san smiled with satisfaction as she leaned back in her seat and surveyed the chaos that she'd created.

"Oi, don't you smile like that!" Misaka-san said with a glare at the blonde. "We haven't talked about _your_ date yet."

"What?" The devilish blonde looked surprised as her cheeks turned pink.

"I heard all about it. Your little bunnies were in a panic when they heard you were having a date."

"Indeed." Saten-san agreed as she pulled out her phone. Her finger swiped through the touch screen a few times as she added, "It's being talked about all over the Level 5 fansites. There are also a number of photos. You looked very nice in the dress you choose. What store did you get it from?"

Naru's face blossomed into a blush. "P-Pictures? Seriously?"

Kazari nodded eagerly in agreement, "You looked so pretty and sophisticated! Though, Sequenzia-san's dress was more my taste. Could you ask her where she got it for me? Please?"

"Hm? Let me see, Saten-san." Shirai-san asked with curiosity.

The Number 3 handed over her phone and the Level 4 scanned the pictures.

"My! You look radiant, Namikaze-san! Truly an Ojou-sama from Tokiwadai."

"Weren't you two sucking face or something? At least, that's what I heard." Misaka-san grinned at the shortest among them. She seemed to take pleasure from watching Namikaze-san squirm.

"It was just a couple of pecks!"

"Oh! So you two _did_ kiss, how bold~ !"

Having her teasing thrown back at her, the blonde girl let out a small growl at her Sempai. It would have been threatening, if only her cheeks weren't so bright.

It was pretty cute in Kazari's opinion.

"Naru-san, about the dress?" Saten-san said, seemingly still caught up on that.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, I'll get you the info and pass it to you later."

"You were serious about the dress?" Misaka-san asked with surprise. "I thought you were just joking."

"I kinda need to get a better idea of the latest fashions." Saten-san admitted with a frustrated sigh. "Apparently I've become my sisters' fashion advisor."

"Well, they were kinda in a coma for years and you weren't. Who else in the family would they refer to? Kiyama-sensei?" Namikaze-san pointed out.

"That would be a disaster." Shirai-san agreed.

Kazari stifled a giggle as she nodded along.

"Sheesh, you sure got your hands full. Still, we'll help you out, Saten." Misaka-san said with an encouraging smile.

"Your sisters, huh? I wonder, is that really the _only_ reason you're suddenly interested in fashion?" The Number 2 said with a teasing smirk. "After all, aren't you trying to court Accelerator?"

"I have no idea what you could be trying to say." Saten-san said. "I was just thinking that as one of the most fashionable girls in Academy City, your input will be valuable."

 _Why does it feel like there's more to it then that?_ Kazari thought as she stared at her friend, who was looking over Namikaze-san critically.

"This is perfect!" Shirai-san said with a happy clap of her hands. "Since Namikaze-san and Saten-san needs new clothes to impress their paramours and Saten-san needs to check out clothes on her sisters' behalf too, we should go on a shopping trip."

"Yeah! The usual place?" Namikaze-san asked, stars in her eyes.

"But of course!"

Kazari could only whimper, pitiful tears prickling the corners of her eyes.

"Oh, I'm going to lose most of my cake budget on haute couture."

* * *

 **Done and done!**

 **Thanks to the Team of Nameless as always.**

 **Wasn't that a sweet encounter for our heroes? Love knows no bounds! Man, these side love stories were a blast!**

 **Nameless: So what do you guys think? Which of the three stories in our version of the Three Stories Arc is the most interesting? Tell us what you think! Personally, I liked Mikoto's best. Its hints at the bigger picture makes it so very interesting. Yes, I do very much like foreshadowing.**

 **Don't we all? Personally, I'm more of a fluff guy and love Naru's story. Still, Mikoto was a close second since she got to fight her apparent stalker and not just walk in on it like in canon.**

 **Nameless: No love for Saten? Well, while I didn't think it was the best story, I did like the way we had have her behave lovestruck in her own oddball way. We both had a laugh at how she started worrying about Accelerator being a lolicon because of Last Order.**

 **I love all our girls equally! Her frightened thoughts that Accel is a lolicon was hilarious! Why else would she ask the group loli for fashion tips? And the girls teasing each other was fun too. Finally, Mikoto has ammo on Naru, lolz! I could see her playing the encouraging big sister for her since Shutaura is such a weakness for Naru~**

 **Nameless: True. Sadly I doubt Shutaura will have much time for dates for the time being. So apologies to those looking forward to more Naru X Shutaura fluff.**

 **Well, you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Thirty: Malevolent Biohazard - Delving into the Colony**

 **Beta:**

* * *

Kazari walked alongside Misaka-san, Namikaze-san, and Shirai-san as they pushed through the unexpected crowd of reporters that had gathered outside Saten-san's house. There were so many of them that Saten-san had arranged for some tentage to be set up on her front lawn to accommodate them all.

"Looks like a press conference," Namikaze-san noted, gesturing to the podium and stage set up at the front of the tent.

"A pretty big one." Misaka-san agreed, nodding towards the large number of milling reporters and the many rows of seats set up for them.

"Any clue what she's announcing?" Shirai-san asked Kazari a little too loudly and catching the attention of a number of nearby journalists who after recognizing the group focused all their attention to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Namikaze-san gave Kazari's fellow Judgement officer a deadpan stare, "Thanks."

"It's not that big a deal Namikaze-san, Saten-san didn't tell me anything either." Kazari confessed. "You should know how much she likes her surprises."

Most of the reporters seemed to deflate a little at this and lose interest in the group of friends, but a young reporter didn't seem to take the hint and pushed pass her colleagues and set a beeline towards them.

"As always, vultures." The pigtailed blonde shrugged. "Remember Sempai, try to smile."

"I don't need media advice from you, Usagi." Misaka-san scowled. "Besides she's an idiot so let's just scare her off."

Before anyone could object, Misaka-san starting sparking and sent the young woman a glare.

The reporter gulped at the display and took a step back in shock, before seeming to reconsider her decision to seek an interview with the Trinity and quickly scurried off to parts unknown.

"Onee-sama," Shirai-san moaned, shaking her head in disapproval.

"Misaka-san, that was a little mean."

Namikaze-san just chuckled as Misaka-san seemed to wilt at the disapproval her actions had engendered.

"Stop laughing Chibi!" Misaka demanded, her face red in emabarrasment.

"Man, you are so predictable. What's next? Going to run into your special somebody next?"

Misaka-san's face turned as bright as a tomato at that.

"Sh-Shut up!"

Strangely enough, Shirai-san wasn't acting up at the mention of Misaka-san liking Kamijou-san. Well, not in the way Kazari expected anyways. Instead of going on about how she already had herself or how she could do better, she was looking around warily as if he could suddenly pop out of nowhere.

 _I wonder if this is Shirai-san growing up or regressing?_ Kazari thought with a sweatdrop.

"Relax, Shirai-san, he isn't here." Namikaze-san informed the teleporter. "There's no way Kiyama-sensei would let him anywhere near Saten-chan if she can help it. He's pretty much our antithesis."

"Good," Shirai-san said firmly. "At least she's good for something."

Kazari blinked in confusion. Shirai-san was worried about Saten-san? Why? What was going on here?

Her confusion must have been clear on her face because Misaka-san looked at her with shock.

"You don't know, Uiharu-san?"

"Know what?" Kazari frowned, a small pit growing in her stomach.

"That Kamijou's [Imagine Breaker] can basically kill Saten-chan if it connects." Namikaze-san leaned in to whisper into Kazari's ear.

"What!?" Kazari gasped. "But she never said it would be that bad!"

"She told you?" Shirai-san asked with a quirked brow.

"Yeah, but all she said is that it would shut down her powers."

"Um, Uiharu-san, you do realize Saten does most of her thinking in the AIM body she creates with her powers right?" Misaka-san told her quietly, eying the circling journalists warily. "Imagine what would happen if her powers suddenly cut out."

Kazari didn't want to. The likely consequences were terrifying enough that she didn't want to even contemplate it.

Fortunately for the computing genius, this was the time that Kiyama-sensei and Saten-san decided to start their conference.

Edasaki-san stepped out onto the stage. She bowed to the crowd, before with microphone in hand she addressed the attendees.

"The press conference is about to begin," The telepath said with surprising confidence. "Could you all please take your seats."

Namikaze-san patted her shoulder as they followed Edasaki-san's instructions, "Don't you worry your pretty flower head, Uiharu-chan! It's not like they have a reason to come into contact. So everything will be alright."

Kazari wasn't fully convinced but nodded nonetheless. She could grill her best friend for details later. In the meantime, she had a press conference to attend. That and she was distracted more than she would like to admit by the dress her friend on stage was wearing. She was wearing a gorgeous black high-low tulle dress, with an illusion neckline and with various pretty designs done in applique the details of which she was too far away to see clearly.

 _I want one..._

"Why is Edasaki-san the emcee?" Shirai-san asked curiously as they all settled into seats in the last row.

"Because Sensei is a penny pincher. Rather than pay money for professionals, she roped us all in to help instead." Izumi-san said as he stepped up to them and gestured to the rest of his siblings and even Haruue-san acting as ushers.

"And she didn't ask us?" Kazari asked, a little hurt.

"Only 'cause Rui-nee invited you guys before she could." Saten-san's younger brother informed them with a sigh. "You guys are so lucky."

"Least you aren't wearing cute little bowties." Namikaze-san teased with mirth, gesturing to the uniform that the boy was wearing. "They would so go with the suit."

"She tried." Izumi-san said with dead eyes. "Thankfully Rui-nee said it would be too much."

"Too bad she couldn't save your sisters from all being dressed up like dolls." Misaka-san noted while waving her hand at Khulan-san who was wearing a peach colored ribbon tie dress. Her sisters were likewise dressed in various pretty dresses and made up to look like models.

"You can blame Rui-nee for that," Izumi-san said with a sigh. "She's let Sensei play dress up with her so much that she couldn't really object. At least the twins got out of it."

"Where are Febrie-chan and Janie-chan anyways?" Kazari asked, not seeing the little angels anywhere.

"Shinobu-san took them out for the morning."

"Aw," The blonde Level 5 pouted. No doubt wanting to spoil the twins just as much as any of them would. Kazari was herself a little disappointed that she wouldn't get a chance to play with Saten-san's little darlings.

Any further conversation was interrupted when Izumi-san caught sight of the look Fujii-san was sending him. Wincing at the reprimanding glare from his elder sister, he quickly said his goodbyes and went back to work.

It wasn't long until Saten-san stepped up to the podium, wearing a fashionable sky blue skirt suit. She looked very professional and Kazari couldn't help but ooh a little bit.

In contrast, Kiyama-sensei was dressed as boringly as usual in her skirt, blouse and lab coat.

That considered, it was perhaps no surprise that it was Saten-san that stepped up to the podium to address the reporters.

As she began speaking, Kazari couldn't help the excitement she felt as her mind raced with the possibilities.

* * *

It was after the press conference, and the Trinity and gang were milling around the tentage waiting to talk to Saten-san as the reporters filed out to write up their reports.

"A new Level Upper network, huh? You know, I'm disappointed it's not more mad science-y." Misaka-san admitted while scratching her cheek in embarrassment. "I mean, Kiyama-sensei is pretty close to being the stereotypical mad scientist isn't she?"

"I wish I could deny that," Saten-san said as she finally made it over, while offering a tired wave to the news crew she'd just finished speaking with. "But Kaa-san really does fit the mold doesn't she?"

"Considering she's essentially revived the Level Upper Network, I don't see why the label wouldn't fit." Shirai-san added. "You sure the 'problems' have been fixed?"

That had been a key concern raised by several reporters during the news conference. They had asked many questions about whether the issues it faced during the 'failed Alpha', namely how it caused people to enter comas, was resolved.

Kazari had been confused at how the Level Upper Incident had suddenly been rebranded as nothing more than a 'failed Alpha test' but her friends had just sighed in annoyance and muttered unhappily about the City's higher ups and their ability to spin even the worst atrocities into something good.

"As told to the reporters, the bugs have been fixed and we've tested the new network vigorously on willing candidates. We've made a lot of progress with it." Saten-san smiled a little.

"And just who would be willing to test it out?" Shirai-san asked, unconvinced and scoffing as Saten-san's eyes drifted to her siblings. "Besides your siblings! Because ten people aren't anywhere near a big enough test group."

"Desperate people that want power. Mainly Level 0s. And of course for those who rode a power high when they were linked to the Network last time too. The majority was a success."

"The majority?" Misaka-san pressed.

"We had some injuries due to people underestimating their enhanced powers and some from the strain the network put on their personal reality," Saten-san admitted. "But it was all treatable and in the end, almost every volunteer walked away satisfied."

"That's cool and all, but I have a question." Namikaze-san said, raising her hand teasingly. "Who gave you the idea to do this? Rolling out a Dark Side system into the mainstream? It doesn't seem like something you'd do on your own initiative, Miss 'I like to keep _all_ the secrets'."

"Of course you would ask that." Saten-san sighed. "And really, am I that bad?"

"No, but that's why it's called a tease, silly." Namikaze-san said with a smirk. "Now answer my question."

Curious as well, Kazari and the others nodded too.

"Mm, ganging up on me." Saten-san muttered before saying, "You are correct. I didn't come up with this idea on my own. It's actually Monaka-sama's price for helping to smooth over the aftermath of the Level Upper Incident."

"And you're sure it's going to be safe?" Misaka-san asked, rehashing the most important point once more.

Saten-san sighed at that, but nevertheless gamely replied. "Yes, it's precisely to ensure its safety that I'm on its development team. No one, not even Kaa-san, knows the system better than I do."

"Then that's all I needed to hear." Namikaze-san winked, "After all, Saten-chan wouldn't lie to us, right?"

Misaka-san and Shirai-san weren't as easily convinced.

Seeing that, Saten-san gave another sigh and tried another tack.

"Look, I don't like this idea much myself. Personally I think the system should be abandoned altogether but Monaka-sama insisted that something good can be made out of it." The [AIM Sovereign] confessed. "That said, I'm taking the job seriously and have insisted on the inclusion of multiple safeguards such as separate 'servers' for users to make it difficult to take control of the whole system at any given time while also ensuring the boost while still significant is not excessive. This makes it more a developmental aid rather than an artificial booster."

"It won't get rid of the room for abuse entirely." Namikaze pointed out.

"Of course not. Every system has room for abuse," Saten-san agreed with a shrug. "We just need to be cautious and try our best to prevent it or keep it to a minimum."

The others all exchanged a look at that, before one by one, some more reluctantly than others they nodded.

"I guess that's the best we can hope for?" Misaka-san said with a frustrated but resigned sigh.

"Yeah," Namikaze-san noted with a slight frown of her own. "But enough sigh inducing stuff. Seriously, we're not old ladies here, girls! Anyone up for doing something fun instead? Maybe one of Sempai's arcades?"

"Heh," Misaka-san smirked, "First good idea you've had in a while, Chibi. I know the perfect-huh?"

She was cut off when her phone rang.

"You should answer that, Sempai." Saten-san said somberly. "It's important."

"Oi, stop tapping into my calls." The irate Level 5 huffed and picked it up. "Hello?"

* * *

Mikoto had been thinking the whole time since she'd learned that the press conference was about a new mainstream version of the Level Upper network about whether it was really possible to turn something created on the blood drenched Dark Side into something that was actually useful for people.

Every interaction she had with the Dark Side showed her how screwed up the world really was and a glimpse at how much worse it could be. It made her nervous something could happen to Saten again if she wasn't careful.

On the flipside, it also got her thinking about how good things in Academy City could easily be twisted to some sinister purpose. After all, if the Level Upper could be made into something useful then what was stopping the inverse from being true as well?

These were the thoughts going through her mind even as she teased the Chibi. It was therapeutic as usual, as was their typical banter. Even if they didn't fully lift the dark cloud over her head, at least it took the edge off it.

"Heh," She said, trying to imitate the Number 2's infamous playful smirk. "First good idea you've had in a while, Chibi. I know the perfect-huh?"

She was interrupted from making her suggestion that they go to her favourite arcade when her phone rang.

"You should answer that, Sempai." Saten-san said somberly, setting alarm bells ringing in Mikoto's head. "It's important."

 _Okay, whatever this call is about, it's going to be bad._ Mikoto noted with a nervous gulp.

"Oi, stop tapping into my calls." Mikoto said with all her false bravado. There was no need to alarm Kuroko or Uiharu-san.

Just barely suppressing the tremble in her hands as she handled her phone, she picked up the call.

"Hello?"

" _Onee-sama, greets Misaka in a nervous yet excitable tone. Your assistance is required, says Misaka informatively._ " The voice of one of her clones said across the airwaves, sending a chill down her spine.

"What? Is something wrong?"

" _It is best not to discuss this over an unsecured line, Misaka says as she looks around furtively for eavesdroppers._ " The clone replied in a barely audible whisper. " _The Man may be listening, says Misaka in a conspiratorial tone."_

"Wha-?"

"Something the matter, Misaka-san?" Uiharu-san asked, with a worried little frown.

"It's nothing we need to worry about," Saten cut in, giving Mikoto a look.

 _Yeah, message received. Whatever the Sisters want, don't involve Uiharu-san. Got it._ Mikoto replied, in a quick burst of morse code.

Saten nodded in stern agreement.

Mikoto fought a sigh as she turned to the rest of the group. "Sorry guys, looks like something came up. I've gotta go. Check in with you all later?"

Kuroko and Uiharu-san looked confused but nodded nonetheless, in contrast Saten and Namikaze were busy having a staring match. It seemed the information broker was busy filling the blonde on what was going on somehow.

 _Wish she'd do me a solid and tell me about it too._

"Alright, I got to go now. Chat later!" Mikoto said as she took her leave.

"Bye-Bye Sempai!" Namikaze cheekily waved. Mikoto could tell, just looking at that demonic little smile of hers she had a barb on the tip of her tongue. Thankfully she held it. Huh, goes to show even a Chibi can learn a trick or two.

Her phone buzzed and she looked down at the text.

[I'll save it for next time, good luck!]

 _...Damn you to hell! Are you a mind reader now or something?!_

Ignoring the blonde's teasing, she put her phone back to her ear.

" _Done, Onee-sama? Misaka asks impatiently_."

"Yeah."

" _Then meet us in fifteen minutes at the Joseph's Coffee and Restaurant along Mikami Street and we'll talk there, Misaka says seriously,_ " the clone said in its unchanging voice. " _There shouldn't be any spies there, Misaka says confidently. At least not any more than the usual, Misaka says in resignation._ "

"Uh, okay?" Misaka said uncertainly, thrown off by the _sheer_ crazy seeping into her clone's voice. "See you there."

The only response was the dial tone and Mikoto growled in annoyance at her clone's impolite behavior.

"I'm so sitting them down one day and teaching them proper manners." The Electromaster said under her breath as she started sprinting towards the nearest light rail station. She needed to hurry if she wanted to make it to the meet up in time.

* * *

Mikoto walked into the family restaurant only to greeted by the smiling manager.

"Ah! Misaka-san, we've been expecting you." The man said with a strained smile. "Your clones are this way."

"H-How?"

"I know about the clones?" The man said with an amused shake of his head as he led her towards the back of the restuarant's sitting area, "Your friend Saten-san brought one over for breakfast and introduced her as such. Of course, my colleague was skeptical but this batch confirmed it."

"Saten is hanging out with one of my clones!?"

"Yes, she and Accelerator-san seemed to have adopted her." The man added with a smile. "They've been back a few times, apparently the little one likes the food. They honestly look very cute together."

"...I don't know how I feel about that." Mikoto knitted her brow in thought. Saten could have made mention of that at least. And little one? Last she checked her clones were her height.

 _I really need to talk to her about her habit of keeping secrets to surprise us with later._ Mikoto mused with a shake of head. _After I pump her for information on this 'little' clone of me._

Her thoughts were derailed however when one of her normal sized Sisters rushed over and without warning gave her a hug.

"Ohayo, Onee-sama, Misaka greets warmly," the clone said in their characteristic monotone even as she tightened the hug. "Misaka is thrilled to see you, Misaka admits shyly."

"Uh, hi?" Mikoto replied awkwardly.

"Honestly, 11118, chides Misaka," One of the other clones huffed as she too walked up. "Hogging Onee-sama to herself, Misaka says while feeling jealous."

 _E-Eh? What's going on with them?_ Mikoto blinked in confusion. Why were the people she knew so weird? Wait, since they're clones of her does that make her weird? ...No, best not go down that rabbit hole.

"10287, 11118, both of you stop it, Misaka demands while sighing in exasperation." A third clone said, while cradling a familiar black cat. "Please do not embarrass us by showcasing your eccentricities, Misaka insists."

"Ah, you're 10032. Heh, still have that cat, huh?" Mikoto smiled at the little cutie in her clone's arms. She wanted to pet it, but her AIM field would probably bother it. "What's his name?"

"Name? Misaka asks in confusion." The clone said looking down at her pet.

"Ah, like a number, Misaka states aloud in understanding." 11118 chirps while nodding enthusiastically.

"Onee-sama is so smart, Misaka said admiringly." 10287 chimed in. Was it Mikoto's imagination or were there stars in her eyes? Was that dairy cow blonde taking her over?

The Level 5 turned to the restaurant manager to get a second opinion only to see he'd made himself scarce. She couldn't blame him. Her clones were seriously weird.

"Names are just meaningless labels, Misaka says disdainfully," a fourth Sister said as she walked up to the group. "More importantly, let's all head back to our table and get started, Misaka adds impatiently."

"Don't be a sourpuss 13577, Misaka shoots back angrily." 11118 said, while sticking out her tongue at the new arrival.

 _Okay, calling them by their numbers is getting confusing. I'm just going to give them nicknames and use those. Hmm… 11118 is kinda active for a Sister, so how about Genki Girl?_ Mikoto thought to herself with an amused smile.

"No wonder you gained one point seven kilograms, Misaka gloats at her fellow Sister's growing mass." 10287 said, jumping to Genki Girl's defense. "Misaka is totally not jealous at the fact that most of that went to her boobs, not at all, Misaka whispers to herself."

 _And this is actually happening. I guess it's how siblings interact, right?_ Mikoto thought to herself distractedly. It was the best way to preserve her own sanity in the face of this spiraling discussion, even as she inspected the accused clone closely. Her breasts did look a touch bigger than the rest.

 _Damn 10287 is right! Does this mean I need to eat more to get my own boobs to grow?_ Mikoto thought as she looked at her less than impressive bosom with frustration.

"Don't be such a tsundere, 10287, Misaka counters." 13577 replied defensively while crossing her arms over her bust. "Besides, if Misaka is growing faster than the rest of the Sisters, it's almost certainly because of some conspiracy of the Man, Misaka says with confidence."

 _Nice one! 10287 is Tsundere._

"Kuro, Misaka says after much consideration." 10032 said suddenly, interrupting her fellow clones' verbal spar.

Jumping onto the chance like the life preserver it was, Mikoto quickly applauded the choice, "Good choice, 10032. Simple but nice."

The newly named Kuro meowed happily in agreement.

"All of you stop, you are making us look bad in front of Onee-sama says Misaka angrily." A new clone said, stepping up to the group and shooting her fellows a disapproving look. "Besides, we're wasting time here, Misaka says thinking of the operational delay this is causing."

"Gotta agree with her guys, I love the show but can you tell me why you called?" Mikoto asked as the group finally got moving again and headed over to where the Level 5 spotted a few more of her clones were seated.

"Ah, Misaka apologizes as her cheeks turn red at humiliating herself in front of Onee-sama." Tsundere said, her cheeks dusted red and a pout on her face.

"Don't worry about it," Mikoto told her as comfortingly as she could manage. Geez, that look just reminded her of when the Usagi was pouty. Did she take lessons from the Chibi?

"Like I said, I found the whole thing fun to watch." The [Railgun] added with a smile to the clone, lifting its spirits in the process.

"Easy, Misaka stage whispers." Genki Girl said tauntingly.

"11118, Misaka said warningly." The last clone to arrive earlier said. "Stop being so antagonizing or Misaka will have to impose military discipline, Misaka adds cooly."

 _What's with all the military talk?_ Mikoto noted with amusement. _I'm totally calling you Military Otaku._

"No need for that 12873, Misaka will be good, Misaka complies sheepishly." Genki Girl said with a shiver.

"Ohayo Onee-sama~!" The remaining Sisters said as one as the group _finally_ made it to the table at the back of the restaurant the clones occupied.

"Hi everyone," Mikoto greeted back easily, as she took a seat and took a quick look among them. "Wow, there's ten of you here. Is that all of you in the City?"

"All except Last Order, Misaka dutifully informs." 10032 said while petting Kuro's head affectionately. "She's currently with Accelerator-sama and Saten-sama."

"They're having snacks to refuel their powers in the hospital cafeteria, Misaka adds," another of the clones added. "They'll be back to fighting forces of evil soon enough, Misaka adds with confidence."

 _Forces of evil? What?_

"Hospital?"

"Accelerator-sama has just finished an appointment, Misaka explains." The same clone continued with the explanation. "He suffered some injuries while dispensing justice, Misaka says sadly, but thankfully Saten-sama was there to save him with the power of her love."

 _Okay… She's either a Sentai nut or a Mahou Shoujo otaku. I'll just go with Sentai for now…_

"I heard about that from Saten," Mikoto said with a nod. "He's still not better?"

"No, Misaka says with a worried shake of her head." Another of the Sisters said. "Which is why we are so glad Saten-sama is there to take care of him and Last Order as well, Misaka says honestly."

"13577 is right, Misaka says in total agreement." 10032 said with a nod.

The other clones all made similar signs of agreement.

 _Why are they so worried about Accelerator any way? I don't get it._

Mikoto was tempted to ask, but thought better of it. She didn't think she would survive the experience with her sanity intact. Maybe she'd just ask Saten about it later. Unlike her clones, her friend would dumb it down into something she could understand without going mad. Probably.

"About this Last Order you guys keep talking about. She's living with Saten?"

"With Accelerator-sama actually, Misaka clarifies." Genki Girl spoke up. "But Saten-sama helps out. A lot. Misaka admits with some chagrin at Accelerator-sama's lack of parenting skills."

 _And Saten has more? That says a lot about Accelerator, none of which is good._

"No surprise there, she did already have experience from the twins I guess. That said, just to check but one of you isn't secretly hiding with the Chibi too right?" Mikoto joked since it seemed the Sisters gravitated towards the Level 5s she knew.

"No, says Misaka as she shakes her head. Though Namikaze-sama has spotted us and chatted amicably with some of us on occasion, Misaka happily notes." One of the more 'normal' Sisters said.

 _I think the Chibi has an admirer._ Mikoto mused as she asked, "Okay, since we're all here. Let's get this Misaka Meeting started, okay?"

"Onee-sama made a pun, Misaka notes while trying not to burst out laughing." Tsundere said, her lips twitching.

Everyone looked at her like she was crazy, even Mikoto. It wasn't _that_ funny. Not that Tsundere seemed to care, as she pretended not to notice and switched back to her cool facade.

"Ehm, coughs Misaka professionally as she starts this meeting." 10032 announced, "the Misakas have gathered because of a concern that has arise with regards to a company named Parasol, notes Misaka with a hint of contempt."

"Parasol? Isn't that the company famous for its pharmaceuticals?" Mikoto asked.

"Parasol is known nowadays mainly for developing bioweapons, Misaka corrects." Military Otaku huffed. "Cowards, Misaka spits."

"Yeah, give me a good Powered Suit anyday, Misaka comments angrily." A previously silent clone said, pushing her finished plate away.

"Um, should we be talking about this here?" Mikoto pointed out as she looked around nervously. Especially since the Sisters were a little too loud for her tastes.

"We need not worry, Misaka reassures Onee-sama." 13577 said in a self-satisfied tone. "I've thoroughly swept the place for listening devices, Misaka proclaims proudly, the Man won't be able to hear us. Well, except for _that man_ , Misaka reluctantly admits. I wish I had a scrambler though, Misaka adds wistfully."

 _Huh? That sounds like something a conspiracy nut would say… I guess I know what to call her._

"Ignore 13577, Misaka urges." 10032 said while everyone sighed at Conspiracy Nut's antics. "As for eavesdroppers, please rest assured, no one not authorized to know this can hear us, Misaka says meaningfully."

"In other words, anyone who _is_ spying on us already knows all this?"

"Yes, unfortunately, Misaka notes unhappily." Military Otaku said with a resigned sigh. "The operation hasn't even started and our OpSec is already compromised, Misaka laments."

"Okay… You guys were talking about Parasol?"

"Parasol is an issue that needs to be addressed Onee-sama, Misaka beseeches." Sentai-chan clasped her hands together. "They are villains that need to be taken down for the betterment of the City, Misaka says with conviction with many stars and sparkles fluttering from her eyes."

"What did they do?"

"The Misaka Network has recently learned that they have acquired a copy of Onee-sama's DNA Map, Misaka hesitantly says." A second of the 'normal' Sisters said while fidgeting in her seat.

"... _What_?" Mikoto ground out, a scowl on her face as her clones looked away nervously. "How did this happen?"

"We are uncertain, Misaka says soothingly." 10032 said while shooting Mikoto a look to calm down, one shared by Kuro.

The twin glares from both the cat and its mistress did the trick and Mikoto took a deep breath, before replying. "You're looking into it?"

"Last Order has just asked Saten-sama to help, Misaka says," Genki Girl said.

"Then what do you need my help with?"

"We need your help to break into Parasol's facility and recover their data, Misaka says outlining the operation's objective." Military Otaku nodded. "We'll be a Misaka Strike Squad, says Misaka confidently."

"Still wish we had Powered Suits, Misaka adds sulkily."

 _She was talking about Powered Suits earlier too... She'll be Mecha Fan. I wonder if her and Uiharu-san would get along, that'd be nice. Wait, don't get distracted now. We've just got to the important stuff!_

"Right, so we storm their base and destroy their database? That'll eliminate their access to my DNA Map?" Mikoto asked skeptically.

"Not completely, but it'll be a start and the rest of the Network as well as the City will work on the rest, Misaka clarifies." Genki Girl said with a nod.

"We'll show the way and the others will follow up, Misaka declares confident that the Network's bravery will spur others to join their just cause. So let's Henshin and rollout Misaka notes eagerly." Sentai-chan said, bouncing in her seat.

 _Yeah… I got it right, she's Sentai-chan alright._

"One last thing before that," Mikoto said even as the Sisters began to get up. "Why me? I mean, you guys are in contact with Saten and _Accelerator_. Why not ask them to help you? Or Namikaze, she's done this stuff before."

"This is a Misaka problem, says Misaka. Therefore Onee-sama should be with us, says Misaka wholeheartedly and feeling bashful at the confession." Tsundere said with a blush.

"That and because both Saten-sama and Accelerator-sama have qualms with fighting any Misakas, Misaka admits while feeling apologetic for their part in traumatizing Saten-sama and Accelerator-sama." 10032 said, looking genuinely sad. "And considering the situation, that is a likely possibility, Misaka concludes."

"And I won't?"

"You're less likely to freeze up at least, Misaka offers uncertainly." One of the more normal clones said.

"Why not Namikaze then?"

The clones looked at each other before with a put upon sigh Genki Girl replied, "We don't trust the Superintendent's agent, Misaka admits."

Mikoto was somewhat offended on Namikaze's behalf, but she could understand where the Sisters were coming from. After all, the Chibi's boss _was_ the ultimate mastermind behind all their suffering during the Level 6 Shift.

"It's not Namikaze-sama's fault though, says Misaka while pouting." Tsundere frowned at the lack of trust in one of their saviors.

"Okay, I get it. So a family outing it is." Mikoto nodded.

"Good, then let's go, Misaka declares while gesturing to everyone to move out." Military Otaku said as she stood. "10032, 10039, 13577, 19090, stay behind as our reserves, Misaka orders. For the rest of you girls, hup to! Misaka orders like a drill sergeant."

 _I don't think I'll get used to this one._ Mikoto sweatdropped at the Sister's take-charge attitude.

* * *

After securing Mikoto's agreement, the six sisters heading on the mission had led their confused progenitor to the light rail station and onto a train bound for District 23.

 _Geez, people really do like to stare._ Mikoto noted of the attention their group garnered from the other commuters.

 _Well, we do look like_ _septuplets_ _. That'd be weird to anyone. Kaa-san would have a cow if that were the case, hehe._ Mikoto giggled softly to herself.

"Onee-sama, this is our destination, Misaka says helpfully," Military Otaku said as she handed Mikoto a tablet.

It displayed data on Parasol's primary research facility, the Colony.

As she began flipping through the file, Mikoto noted it was located in District 23.

 _Guess that explains why we're heading there._

The lab apparently consisted of an administrative building on the surface that outwardly looked like an European colonial era mansion. This was however only the beginning, because it had three huge underground habitation sections. Each was self-contained, self-sufficient, with minimal connections to other sectors and an average population of roughly 6,000 at last census. They were designed to simulate a hypothetical off-world underground colony and to test its viability. Below this and unknown to the experimental habitats' inhabitants there was a hidden fourth section that had secret access to the other sections and the surface.

"How?"

Military Otaku just leaned over and hit a tab on the file that pulled up the facility's history. According to what it said, Parasol had been one of the earliest and biggest initial investors in Academy City, earning itself exclusive development rights to a huge chunk of the underground.

"But the people?" Mikoto asked in a whisper.

"Scroll down, Misaka advises." Military Otaku told her simply.

Doing so, the Level 5 was shocked to discover that the Colony's 15,000 initial inhabitants, had been considered a relatively small number of people during the large influx into the City in its early days and their presence were easily obscured.

 _Surely thousands of people disappearing would have been noticed!_

Considering that Mikoto hadn't heard about it though, apparently it wasn't.

"Building such a facility and bringing in so many test subjects in secret. Parasol must be a _very_ powerful company." Mikoto observed.

"It was, Misaka agrees." Conspiracy Nut said with a nod. She took a nervous look around the by now empty train before continuing, "but thanks to the efforts of the Man, it's fortunes have taken a dive lately, Misaka adds. They apparently offended the Superintendent or someone like him I think, Misaka informs."

"I'm surprised the Chibi hasn't brought it down yet then."

"They're probably still useful, Misaka guesses." Genki Girl adds with a shrug.

"Yeah, since their fall from grace the cowards have shifted the company's focus to bioweapons development in a desperate attempt to save itself from bankruptcy, Misaka notes scornfully." Mecha Fan scoffed. "Like flesh will ever beat the strength of cold hard steel, Misaka says expressing her disdain."

"Alright, so once we're in we go nuts or do we have a specific goal in there?"

"The central labs in the secret research habitat, Habitat Zero, Misaka says," Military Otaku said pressing a few tabs on the file to call up the relevant data. "We'll need to access their systems from there to complete our objective, Misaka surmises."

Mikoto took a deep breath as she readied herself to once more jump into the breach. If Namikaze and Saten had to deal with this since they were little girls, then she should be able to do the same. If only so they didn't have to do this alone in the future. She was their sempai after all, she had a job to protect them.

"District 23: Parasol Science Park Station." The train's speakers announced suddenly, bursting Mikoto's little attempt to motivate herself for what lay ahead. "District 23: Parasol Science Park Station."

"We're here, let's do this, Misaka says with determination." Military Otaku said as the train pulled into the station, earning herself a ragged cheer from the other Sisters.

"Into the breach." Mikoto muttered to herself, steeling her nerves.

* * *

As Mikoto and her retinue of Sisters walked towards the Colony, they were greeted with with the might of the City's Dark Side on full display. The surface building was surrounded by hundreds of paramilitary troops, Powered Suits and even a collection of what Mikoto recognised as the Black Crow's tricycle tanks.

"Oh! Look at all those guns and their other gear, it's so professional, Misaka says admiringly." Military Otaku said, living up to her name as she gushed over all the military hardware on the scene. "And just look at the way they're carrying themselves, now these are real soldiers, Misaka says with a happy sigh at having the chance to see such an impressive sight."

"Hehehe, Misaka giggles exuberantly as she gazes upon the Type-149 Powered Suit, truly a classic but perfectly functional piece of machinery, Misaka says while trying to hold in a squeal." Mecha Fan stated.

"11132, 12873, cut it out, Misaka chides her Sisters." Conspiracy Nut said in a harsh whisper. "Don't let the Man manipulate you by playing to your interests, Misaka warns."

"You guys really have learned and branched out." Mikoto noted dryly.

"Of course we have, Onee-sama! Misaka says with a proud smile." Genki Girl replied. "Heaven Canceler told us it's good for us, Misaka adds."

Honestly? She was happy for them. They were trying their hardest to be individuals despite having something of a hivemind. It was admirable!

Even if the way they went about it was just plain weird.

 _Again though, why am I so normal compared to all the people I know?_

Thankfully for her mood, Mikoto didn't get much chance to dwell on her observation as she was promptly confronted by a squad of paramilitaries being led by a slightly older girl.

The red eyed girl had long blonde hair that she had tied into twintails that were held in place with a pair of ribbon bows. She was dressed in a school uniform consisting of a grey pleated skirt, a matching waistcoat and a white short-sleeved blouse, the latter two of which were heavy accentuated by a multitude of buttons. It reminded Mikoto of the one the Dummy Check girl wore, but that was so long ago that she couldn't be completely sure. All in all, the girl didn't look much like a Dark Sider, but Mikoto had long since learned that looks could be deceiving.

"The [Railgun] and a bunch of her Sisters?" the girl sneered. "What the heck do you lot think you're doing here? Considering who you are, there's no doubt you know that this area has been declared off limits. So tell me why I shouldn't have you all arrested for illegal trespass?"

 _Okay, seriously, were my clones an open secret? It's ridiculous._ Mikoto frowned. _And what's with the girl's tone? She's so hostile, it's like I killed her puppy or something!_

"We have business with Parasol, Misaka says with determination." Tsundere said while sparks began arcing off her forehead. "You will not stand in Onee-sama's way, Misaka adds threateningly."

"I wasn't asking the manufactured doll," The twintailed girl replied sharply.

"Hey! Don't call the Sisters dolls!" Mikoto shot back, bristling at the insult to her clones. Sparks crackled and the scent of ozone filled the air.

"I'll call them wha-"

"Fenette-san, that's enough." The familiar voice of Sequenzia-san said as she walked over flanked on either side by one of her Black Crow soldiers. "We'll take it from here."

 _The Usagi's friend? Awesome!_ Mikoto thought with some relief. She was a black ops unit, right? Hopefully they'd be willing to let them help take this place down.

"Screw off, Sequenzia! I've got this handled." Fenette countered indignantly.

"Last I checked, you are only here as part of your contract with Hound Dog. That means I outrank you in this situation. So be an obedient little freelancer and back down." The dark haired older girl noted coldly. "And using such language? How becoming of a _lady_ of your fine breeding."

The blonde's fingers twitched as she made an abortive attempt to pull something out of her pockets, but eventually with one last glare at Mikoto, she compiled and marched off still visibly fuming. Her goon squad following dutifully after her.

"Thank you, Sequenzia-san." Mikoto said in gratitude.

The cool older girl cocked her hip and placed a hand on it, "What are you doing here, Misaka-san? You are just a civilian and this is the site of an active operation. I would kindly ask you to leave but since the other two thirds of the Trinity aren't known to respect the rules, I somehow doubt you will either. At least not from past experience."

Mikoto winced at the reminder of their last run-in and the disastrous end that had played out.

Distracted by her bitter trip down memory lane, it was Military Otaku who responded on their group's behalf.

"We're here to recover something that belongs to us from Parasol, Misaka explains." The military obsessed Sister offered.

"Do you have clearance? If you had Namikaze-san here I'd have her be responsible for you. Sadly, I do not see a single pigtailed blonde here."

"They're with me, isn't that good enough?"

"You do remember you're still a civilian, right? It doesn't matter how many Dark Side Incidents you've been part of. Without valid clearance or rank, you're still just a civilian."

 _I really need to ask Namikaze where to get a license for this or something?_ Mikoto grumbled.

"Then as a civilian Misaka would like to know why the City has deployed en masse to a research facility? Misaka asks as she eyes the suspiciously large deployment." Conspiracy Nut asked, pointing at the frankly massive amount of firepower securing the Colony.

Sequenzia-san opened her mouth but seemed to think twice about giving whatever canned reply the City had probably spun to cover up whatever was going on, instead she snapped her mouth shut and pondered for a moment.

"I guess with your experiences, you lot deserve the truth." The paramilitary leader said with a sigh.

"And our direct involvement, Misaka smugly points out." Conspiracy Nut added.

"That remains to be seen." Sequenzia-san countered with a cold frown on her face. "Anyways, we're all here because there's been a containment breach by Parasol's bioweapons."

"A breach? Down in the habitats?"

The older girl just nodded grimly.

"But there are thousands of people down there!" Mikoto shouted, alarmed at all those people being put in danger by whatever the unscrupulous company, and it had to be one if it was dabbling in bioweapons, had cooked up. "Why aren't you guys going down to rescue them?"

"We know. Unfortunately they're likely all already dead." The older girl said with a resigned air. "The City has written them off."

"What do you mean by that?" Mikoto demanded, electricity arcing off her as her anger spiked at the callous statement. "How do you know they're all dead?"

"That's the consensus our analysts have reached based on what access we have to the surviving surveillance equipment down there. The _things_ that caused the kind of death toll we're talking about… we cannot let them out here in the City. If any of them get out, it would spell doom for everyone who lives here and I will _never_ allow that."

"Things? Misaka asks warily," Genki Girl asked with a shiver. "What were Parasol working on down there? Misaka asks while not wishing to hear the answer."

"Abominations that should never have seen the light of day." Sequenzia-san said firmly.

"Bastards, why can't this City work on helping humanity instead of trying to kill it." Mikoto spat, her fists tightening.

"It _is_ founded by amoral scientists, Misaka reminds Onee-sama." Tsundere spoke up.

Sequenzia-san gave the Sister a lazy, agreeing nod before changing the topic. "Moving on. In order to not risk the chance of the threat escaping into the City, the Directors have decided to cleanse the Colony by flooding it with radioactivity that'll kill _all_ life inside it."

The Level 5 felt her heart twist as horror came to her face, "W-Wait! What about any survivors? Are you just going to condemn them to death too?"

"Like I said, our analysts concluded there aren't any left. Any that might have survived, are to be considered collateral damage. Look, I find that as distasteful as you do," Sequenzia-san confessed, looking genuine. "However, the risk to the rest of the City is too great. In this case, I have to agree with the Directors. Killing everything down there is our safest option."

"Please, if your bosses won't let you then give me a shot to try. There might still be some people down there begging just to get out. Are you really okay just killing them like that?"

"I would love to give you the chance, though I doubt you'd accomplish anything. That said, my opinion isn't-" Sequenzia-san said clinically but was cut off by a cutesy ringtone that made the older girl's lip curl.

"Apologies, I have to answer this." The older girl said, as she hastily accepted the call.

"Ladylee-sama? Wha-Yes, that's what she wants. Really? They've agreed? How? Oyafune-sama? That explains a lot. Very well, I'll let them know. Sequenzia signing off."

Her call ended, the paramilitary leader returned her attention to Mikoto.

"It looks like your wish has been granted, Misaka-san." Sequenzia-san informed her with a conflicted frown. "It seems the Directors are curious to see what you'll be able to achieve."

 _I don't know how I feel about that. Do they want me to succeed or just want me to fail?_ Mikoto paused, nervousness filling her mind.

"In fact, I think your support has just arrived."

At this the older girl pointed down the road. Tilting her head back to look at what had caught her eye, Mikoto was surprised to see a trailer truck driving up to them. One emblazoned with Saten's signature flower symbol.

"It seems Oyafune-sama, or perhaps Saten-san, has arranged for Maniple to provide your clones with the equipment they'll need."

"How suspiciously right on time, Misaka says with a sarcastic snort." Conspiracy Nut noted.

"13577, that's not fair, Misaka says scoldingly." Genki Girl addressed her fellow Sister. "Saten-sama probably arranged this the moment she learned what was going on from Last Order, Misaka reminds."

"Misaka thanks you for coming to aid us, says Misaka as she passionately applauds your timely arrival." Sentai-chan said to the truck driver with a broad smile on her face as it came to a stop on the curb right where they were standing.

"Just doing the stoic little jou-chan a favour, sparky jou-chan." The familiar voice of Kurozuma-san said as he jumped out the driver's cab.

Smacking the side of the trailer, he continued, "This baby is loaded to the brim with everything a team of plucky jou-chans could ever need to fight a war, so feel free to take your pick."

"Least it's better than that fancy van Namikaze gave you." The [Railgun] snorted.

"Hey, I get the best naps in that thing." Kurozuma-san cheekily pointed out.

Squenzia-san rolled her eyes, "Enough with your banter, if you wish to rescue people, get loaded up and move out. You have till 0800 tomorrow to finish your mission or whatever the outcome, the City is going to purge the Colony's habitats."

"That's half a day from now!" Mikoto protested.

"Hence, why you should hurry. At least your clones seem to get it." Sequenzia-san said gesturing to the Sisters, who were all eagerly rushing into the trailer to pick out what they wanted.

Mikoto blinked at their enthusiasm for a moment before sighing in resignation and joining them. She didn't know how to use a gun, but surely there was something inside that she could use right?

* * *

"Hasta La Vista. says Mikoto in a badass tone." Military Otaku said in the Sisters' usual deadpan voice, hefting up two railguns at once. "Misaka fill be firing all her lasers, she says with glee."

"Your one-liners are boring, Misaka points out, not jealous at all at how 12873 is showing off to Onee-sama." Tsundere pointed out as she held onto an assault rifle while sorting through a stack of ammo clips and grenades she'd procured. "And put that second rifle down, Misaka demands. The recoil from one is bad enough, try using two at once and Misaka'll likely break both her arms."

"Aw, Misaka whines in disappointment." Military Otaku said as she obeyed and passed her second rifle to Genki Girl who smiled broadly as she took the weapon and began adjusting its sights to suit her.

"Teehee, Misaka giggles! This is why Mecha are the best, Misaka gloats." Mecha Fan said as she started up the lone Powered Suit in the otherwise expansive arsenal Maniple had brought to bear. A model that Mikoto recognised as the one Saten had used extensively as golems during the Silent Party Incident. It seems Maniple had been so impressed with them that they'd duplicated her design for their own use.

"Stop moving, you idiot, Misaka demands." Conspiracy Nut shouted at Mecha Fan as she began testing out the mobility of her new machine. "Misaka is still loading the backpack with supplies, Misaka informs crossly."

"Sorry, Misaka apologises." Mecha Fan replied as she stilled. "Could 13577 check the connections on the spare batteries for the gatling laser too? Misaka asks shyly, aware she was asking too much."

"Fine, just stop moving and making it difficult, Misaka replies with irritation." Conspiracy Nut agreed as she got to work.

"Hey 13577, what weapon do you want? Misaka asks her distracted comrade." Tsundere asked as she finished securing all the equipment she'd picked onto her person. She'd ended up with a pair of utility belts crossed over her chest, with full magazines tucked neatly into pockets that ran the belts' lengths. Around her waist, she had a belt with three big pouches full of grenades and other gear.

Mikoto had to admit… she looked cute all decked out like a tiny soldier. Huh, maybe she should try some military cosplay or something. She'd rope the others into it. They could go have a themed party or something.

"Thanks 10287, Misaka replied with gratitude. Get me a combat shotgun and set up like yours but with shotgun shells, Misaka requests."

"Gotcha, Misaka says as she gets started fulfilling the request." Tsundere said as she did just that.

"I'll help, Misaka offers cheerfully." Genki Girl, who was now sporting a small backpack presumably full of supplies in addition to her railgun rifle, said as she joined Tsundere in getting Conspiracy Nut's gear together.

"Oh! Misaka exclaims, having been inspired. Misaka will go with that loadout too, Misaka declares decisively." Sentai-chan said enthusiastically as she started finally gathering her gear instead of pacing around indecisively like she had so far.

Mikoto felt somewhat out of place since she didn't know how to use any of the equipment there. She heard a whistle and turned to see a roll of coins tossed her way. Catching it, the Level 5 looked at Kurozuma-san who winked at her.

"Fresh off the Saten-chan presses." The former Skillout said with a cheeky smile."Got a few more as backup too."

"Hee, that girl. Looks like I owe her again."

"Buy her a drink when you get back okay? She passed out making this bunch for you, you know?" The man said as he pulled out a whole fanny pack worth of coin rolls. There must have been at least a thousand coins in there.

 _Damn, that's a lot of coins! I can see why she'd pass out if she made those all on short notice._

"Let me guess, Musashino milk?"

"Is there any better drink?" The redhead man chuckled but turned serious, "You sure you want to go down there, Jou-chan? I doubt it'll be pretty."

"I know…" Mikoto looked down, steeling herself for what possible nightmares could be down there. "People need help though, I can't just ignore that."

"You're a good person, you know that?" Kurozuma-san said with a gentle smile. "Just hope the Dark Side doesn't change that."

"It didn't change that part of Saten or Namikaze so I think I'm fine."

The redhead laughed, "You've got me there. Though it would be a hoot to see the other Dark Siders hear you call them good people, considering their reputations."

Mikoto wrinkled her nose, "They don't know them like I do."

No matter how scary people thought them, her kohai were good girls.

"Ready Onee-sama? Misaka asks cautiously as she doesn't want to intrude on a private conversation." Military Otaku asked, now decked out in a set of combat armor, complete with helmet, and a backpack, all of which matched well with her railgun rifle.

She looked like a soldier, even more so than Genki Girl or even Tsundere did.

Taking a glance at the other Sisters, Mikoto noted they all looked like soldiers now. Sentai-chan and Conspiracy Nut were dressed similarly to Tsundere now and inside her Powered Suit, Mikoto knew Mecha Fan had strapped a pistol to her thigh and put on a flak vest. They were all ready for war.

Nodding at Military Otaku's question, she just hoped they were ready enough to face whatever horror show the Colony had become.

"You sure Onee-sama? Misaka asks worriedly." Tsundere asked, gesturing to some armor. "Wouldn't it better to put on some protection? Misaka suggests with worry that she hopes Onee-sama will not notice. For when you're too tired? Misaka adds helpfully."

"If I'm too tired to use my powers then I'm likely deadmeat already. No amount of armor is going to save me." Mikoto pointed out.

It was sad, but it was the truth. Without her powers she was just a normal middle schooler and against the monsters she expected to face down in the hell below, she wouldn't survive a minute.

Tsundere flinched at that, looking very nervous.

"I-If Onee-sama says so, Misaka says with a stutter."

"Then it's operation start! Misaka declares. Time? Misaka asks."

"2148. Misaka dutifully replies." Mecha Fan replied.

"Then we have just under twelve hours to complete our mission and return safely, Misaka says matter-of-factly." Military Otaku told the group. "Onee-sama will be in the center of the formation, your railgun will be our trump card, Misaka says."

Mikoto nodded. That made sense.

"We'll use a diamond formation. 11132, you'll take point with your Powered Suit as it's essentially a big shield, Misaka dutifully remarks. 13577, 14091, flank 11132, Misaka orders. Your shotguns will be useful for anything that gets pass Misaka's gatling laser, Misaka explains. Misaka and 11118 will be the next rank, Misaka outlines. We'll use the range of our railguns to maximum effect, Misaka reasons. 10287 will be the rearguard, Misaka adds unnecessarily. Misaka's rifle range effective range will allow Misaka to properly cover our rear while also supporting the front, whichever is more useful, Misaka expounds."

 _Wow, she's got a real sense of tactics. Maybe we should have her plan out Trinity operations if we're planning on something._ Mikoto thought, clearly impressed how the Sisters were just evolving into their own persons.

The other Sisters seemed to agree with Mikoto's assessment of 12873's ability as they obeyed and soon they were all formed up.

"Misakas! Let's roll out! Misaka says with roaring passion."

 _Time to stare into the abyss…_ Mikoto thought to herself as she and her clones marched off to face whatever lay ahead.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the tema of Nameless as always!**

 **Man, the spook-tacular is here! And late, probably. No matter! We will have our pizza and eat it too.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed how we built up the Sisters. With so many of them, making archetypes out of them was just too tempting and well, we created adorable ones in my opinion. Now it is their time to shine and impress their Onee-sama!**

 **Nameless: That's not all we created. This arc is the seed from which many OG ideas were spawned. Look forward to seeing more future OCs (or at least expys of characters from other IPs) and OG arcs ahead.**

 **They are such a blast to think up. Some coming from just random comments or ideas or just a single one-liner.**

 **Nameless: We wrote this homage to Resident Evil and Halloween in October in the hopes we would get it done for the Spooktober fun, unfortunately we couldn't finish it time. Pouts.**

 **There there, we're fashionably late is all.**

 **Now you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off!**

 **Oh! PS, check out Nameless' cool new fic called: Why Cute Witches Should Deal With Outsiders (And Their Lairs). It's going to be a blast, I can tell~!**


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Thirty One: Malevolent Biohazard - Nightmare on Parasol Avenue**

 **Beta:**

* * *

Mikoto looked nervously at the countdown she'd set on her phone for when the City would irradiate the Colony and kill everything in it. Watching the ticking seconds on the precious twelve hour time limit made her throat tighten up. How did her life come to this? She was just a pre-teen and now she was dealing with a bioweapon outbreak of all things.

Academy City seriously needed to get its shit together.

Then she remembered, _Oh yeah, it wasn't there to begin with._

As they passed through yet another of the airlocks in the single working funicular down into the Colony, Mikoto couldn't help but give voice to her doubts.

"How in the world are we going to pull this off?" Mikoto whined. "Not only do we have to try and save all the survivors in these habitats but also recover the DNA Map we came here for in the first place! That's just too much!"

"Onee-sama, you must be confident and believe in the you that believes in the us that believes in you, says Misaka with unwavering confidence." Sentai-chan said with sparkling eyes that were so adorably innocent.

Trying to get her head around the confusing phrasing, Mikoto offered a bewildered nod, "Uh, sure?"

Sentai-chan gave her a thumbs up.

Why are they all so weird?!

 _Am I weird too? Is this the result of something in my DNA? It would explain why Mama is so crazy…_

"On a more practical note, Misaka cuts in while shooting 14091 a chiding glare." Conspiracy Nut said while doing as she said. "Parasol must have some way to control their bioweapons. We just need to secure it and use it to stop the outbreak, Misaka continues."

"Agreed, Misaka nods." Military Otaku said with the barest of nods. "Since any such control system is almost certainly in the research habitat, Habitat Zero, alongside our original target, it should not be too difficult to acquire both while there, Misaka reasons."

"We don't have a direct route there though, not with all the damage to the transport networks." Mikoto replied, deeply concerned on how this would affect their already tight time limit.

"Don't worry Onee-sama, we're already plotted out a route remember? Misaka says with pride." Genki Girl reminded her.

They had indeed spent some time reviewing all they knew about the potential routes to Habitat Zero and plotted the quickest way there. If all went well, they would have plenty of time.

Setting her doubts aside, Mikoto clenched her fist tightly in determination, "Right."

 _Though, I wish Saten or at least the Usagi was here. They're used to this sort of thing after all._ Mikoto shook her head at the thought, _No, I can do this too. I can't rely on them every time something gets tough._

They passed another airlock as a soft light broke into the elevator. Taking a look, Mikoto got a bird's eye view of the habitat's interior as the lift travelled the remaining distance to its ground level. Before her spread a cityscape that might have once looked beautiful. Lit up by a beautifully detailed artificial sky and with lush green spaces that seamlessly blended into futuristic architecture, it reminded her of some of the most picturesque areas of Academy City's aboveground districts. The image however was ruined by the many fires and other signs of unrest that had afflicted the underground town.

"We'll stop this, Misaka says reassuringly." Tsundere said, giving Mikoto's shoulder a comforting squeeze.

Mikoto could only nod in grim determination even as a part of her worried that by the time they were done there would be nothing for them to save.

* * *

" _Welcome to Habitat B. Please be sure to take all your belongings with you and have a nice day."_ The voice of a cheerful woman said as the doors to the funicular opened into the transport and processing hub that served as the entry point into this section of the Colony.

"Thanks." Mikoto muttered dryly.

"This way Onee-sama, the light rail station we're looking for is this way, Misaka directs the group." Mecha Girl on point said over the external speakers of her Powered Suit as she stepped off the lift. "Stay in formation and follow me, Misaka reminds."

The Sisters and Mikoto did as such, staying in their formation as they walked into the extensive reception section of the building.

Screams and screeches could be heard in the distance.

"Where's everyone?" Mikoto asked aloud as she surveyed her surroundings, studiously ignoring the sounds of distant chaos. As much as she wanted to rush off to help, they couldn't afford the distraction from their mission.

Her question was soon answered, but Mikoto dearly wished it wasn't.

Seemingly drawn by the sounds of their group's presence a humanoid form stumbled around the corner to face them. The thing had been a woman once. Judging by the remains of a uniform that remained on its body, she had been a member of the transport hub's staff. Unfortunately, that was all in the past now for her uniform was bloody and torn, exposing large areas of grotesquely warped flesh with various different types of fungal growths jutting out. In particularly, this poor woman's face looked like it had been replaced by a giant toadstool even as her right breast had been ripped off and replaced by a set of bracket fungus.

The [Railgun] felt her heart freeze over for a brief moment as she looked at the creature.

The abomination felt no such hesitation though and somehow let out a loud warbling cry despite its lack of a discernible mouth before charging the group.

Military Otaku reacted immediately and blew its head off with a shot from her railgun rifle, but the damage was done. Attracted by the first creature's cry, more of its ilk came. Hundreds of them. Men, women, the young and old. Fat and slim. These _things_ came in all shapes and sizes. Worse yet, like the first creature judging by the clothes they were wearing… they were likely, no, they _were_ the habitat's civilians.

 _Zombies, freaking zombies!_ Mikoto roared in her mind, _What on Earth were they thinking? This is like some B movie!_

"Mow them down, Misaka orders!" Military Otaku announced and the Sisters did so without hesitation.

The front ranks of the charging horde fell like bowling pins under the sustained accurate fire of the Sisters, but the zombies pressed on undaunted by the death of dozens of their comrades.

"They keep coming, Misaka cries out worriedly." Tsundere cursed as she reloaded her rifle.

"Just keep shooting! Misaka orders." Military Otaku shouted back sternly.

 _There's too many of them, we need to try something else._ Mikoto realized as she began fishing out one of her Dark Matter tokens.

"Which way do we need to go? Left or right?" Mikoto asked as she flipped the token into the air and used her powers to construct the barrel for her signature attack.

The fast calculating Sisters answered in a heartbeat.

"Right!" The clones barked in unison, before adding unnecessarily. "Misaka says."

As soon as the coin fell, Mikoto flicked it left. The railgun shot cut through the zombies in its way like a hot knife through butter as it streaked towards the roof of the hallway leading left. It struck its target with an explosion so intense that it seemed to shake the whole world, or at least the whole building, and easily collapsed the passageway.

That cut the flow of zombies by half, but there were still plenty of the tragic monsters streaming towards them from the right.

Thankfully, Mikoto had a plan for that too.

Clenching her fist as a mnemonic, Mikoto built up a large electrical charge which she released in a powerful burst to their right. The powerful attack instantly blunted the advancing horde and fried hundreds of the zombie at once.

They were predictably replaced by more but the [Railgun] met these with another electrical burst.

 _This is just like electric fishing, just with fried zombies instead of dead fish,_ the Number 5 thought to herself grimly while fighting the urge to puke.

"Move, move! 11132, bulldozer, Misaka orders!" Military Otaku declared as Mecha Fan started to advance, using her Powered Suit to push her way through the already thinned zombie swarm.

The hulking frame knocked aside the infected bodies as Mikoto and the Sisters stayed in formation behind her as they continued their advance. The others, Tsundere and Conspiracy Nut in particular using their weapons to take out any zombies that got too close but otherwise conserving their ammo and leaving the job of clearing their path to Mikoto's electric bursts.

They kept to this winning strategy as they advanced down the hallway to the light rail they needed. They arrived in the boarding station a few minutes later, only to find a massive horde pacing around, with even more inside the thankfully waiting train.

"We're going to have to clear the train before we use it," Mikoto noted with a heavy heart.

The Sisters just nodded.

Even as her heart ached painfully at what needed to be done, the Number 5 pushed aside her unease.

"Let's do this," the [Railgun] said reluctantly.

* * *

As the tram finally left the platform, Mikoto breathed a sigh of relief. Having thoroughly cleared the train, the group was fairly sure they were safe for now. This meant that they could, at least for now, enjoy a temporary breather.

"H-How?" The Level 5 stuttered out as she desperately tried to maintain her cool in the face of the lull. "How did they manage something as horrible as this?"

She couldn't break down yet. Not when they were still in a zombie apocalypse. However, at the same time, the reprieve from constant attacks was giving her too much time to think and that was playing hell with her nerves.

"This was the result of using a special mutagen, Misaka explains in a quiet voice." Tsundere whispered softly. "From our research, it is derived from studying Namikaze-sama's regenerative qualities, Misaka says as she gnaws at her lower lip uncomfortably. It was used to create various powerful bioweapons, such as this Cordyceps derived zombie pathogen, Misaka explains. However, it seems the research went out of hand somehow, Misaka says with a nervous glance outside."

Righteous fury welled up inside Mikoto. Her fists tightened until her knuckles were white. The mere thought that someone would abuse Namikaze's own healing ability to create such monstrosities… it was the creation of the Sisters all over again.

 _How can they turn something as beneficial as healing into a weapon? Every time I think something good happens in this City, it just turns around and makes two more atrocities._

"Don't think too much about it, Misaka advises." Military Otaku said while looking at Mikoto with concern. "Just focus on doing what needs to be done, Misaka tells Onee-sama sympathetically. If you think too much, you'll break down, Misaka informs her worriedly."

"Yeah, thanks." Mikoto nodded as she tried to push the information into the back of her mind. She had a job to do and it was to save as many as she could.

* * *

"You sure we can unlock the tunnel here?" Mikoto demanded as the group cautiously infiltrated into a security centre next to the tunnel that connected Habitat B and their next destination, Habitat C.

"The data suggests as such, Misaka confirms." Conspiracy Nut replied as she blew the head off a zombie that had tried to ambush them from behind a closed door before stepping aside to allow Mecha Fan to block off the door and unleash the full fury of her laser gatling on the dozen or so zombies lingering within.

"Apologies Onee-sama, Misaka says feeling deeply embarrassed." Military Otaku. "Misaka did not expect that the tunnel would be locked down, Misaka admitted. Misaka hopes this detour will not delay us too long, Misaka expresses her earnest worries."

"Relax, I'm not blaming you." Mikoto reassured the leader of the Sisters. "I understand full well that no plan survives contact with reality."

"Ah, good, Misaka sighs in relief as she wanted to look cool and professional in front of Onee-sama."

"Suck up, mutters Misaka out loud." Tsundere huffed.

"Care to say that again 10287? Misaka demands menacingly." Military Otaku growled.

"Hmph! Huffs Misaka, not wanting to look at her fellow Sister."

"Stop it, both of you! Misaka demands." Mecha Fan said, as they walked into what was clearly a control room. "We're here, Misaka declares."

In reaction to their entry, the dozens of zombies inside the room, all of which were still dressed in the uniforms of the habitat's security staff, charged at Mikoto and the clones. With well oiled military precision, the clones took down the hostiles with clinical precision. On Mikoto's part, she did her fair share as well by electrocuting the two zombies that were still dressed in combat armor.

"Clear! Misaka reports," Mecha Fan declared as she finished sweeping her laser gatling cautiously from left to right and presumably announced the readings of her Powered Suit's sensors.

Striding forward, the Number 5 started to hack into the system of the banks of computers that filled the room. Multiple previously idling screens came online as she sifted through the information. As she did so, she froze as she caught the glimpse of some security footage that her hacking had inadvertently brought up.

It showed a group of humans that were on the run from a pack of zombies. They hardly stood a chance as they were caught and met their horrific ends. One in particular made Mikoto wince as a yankī girl was tackled to the ground. The zombie responsible immediately bit down on her stomach, gripping what seemed to be a belly button piercing and ripped a good chunk of her stomach out. If that wasn't bad enough, the monster then proceeded to vomit inside of the dying girl's stomach.

Her eyes remained glued to the screen as using the zombie's vomit as a starting point, parasitic fungus began to grow at an unnatural pace and sealed up the bleeding stomach. Once the zombie got off of the victim, the yankī l girl stumbled to her feet as mushrooms grew out of her midsection and readily joined the horde as it continued to chase the few survivors.

"That's fucked up!" Mikoto could not help but scream in horrified anger as she backed away from the terrifying footage. "How depraved do these sick scientists have to be to come up with fucked up ideas like this! Much less actually _test_ it out!"

The fact that they had gotten away with this just made Mikoto wonder how far Academy City was willing to go before they stopped. Could anything stop them though?

 _I need to talk to Saten. Maybe if we work together, we would be able to shut these asinine experiments down. I can't let them keep using Namikaze either, it's insane. Everything they do just seems pointless and wasteful of life. Oh, and completely lacking a moral compass!_

She was brought out of her thoughts as the tragedy playing out on the screen reached its climax as the handful of survivors found themselves trapped by a large fence and they became a smorgasbord for the horde, including many of their previous fellow survivors.

"Onee-sama, Misaka calls out to Onee-sama as she shakes her from her stupor. We have finished the hacking, Misaka happily informs." Genki-chan chirped.

Mikoto could only numbly nod, her eyes still glued to the gruesome end of the survivors which included horrible fates such as a pregnant woman being eaten alive, and most heinously her baby being ripped out of her womb and devoured by a zombified man that moments before had been fighting with his all to protect her. A man that Mikoto's traitorous mind told her was possibly her husband and the baby's father.

Bile wormed its way of her throat but she grit her teeth and pushed it down. No, she would not falter at this, she couldn't! She could still save some people!

"L-Let's go!" Mikoto forced out as she turned away from the screen. "We need to end this."

The Sisters looked at each other worriedly but nodded. Determined to end this nightmare, they all moved out.

* * *

The team were traveling through Habitat C via its local light rail, when midway through their trip they found that the tracks of the line they had chosen was blocked by a derailed train. They were thus forced to ditch the train and switch to another line.

Worse yet, they were facing a further delay as they had to deal with the _cause_ of the derailment namely a massive zombie elephant whose back was covered in gaping wounds that had been filled in by various fungal growths including several large trunk like structures growing out of its back like a row of dorsal spines.

"Out!" Mikoto screamed as she blew off the doors of their train and led the Sisters in jumping out just moments before the elephant trampled the section of the train where they had just been standing.

"I'm sorry, but is that what I think it is?" Mikoto couldn't help but ask as the sheer ridiculousness of the situation caught up to her.

"It's a zombified elephant from the Habitat's zoological research labs, Misaka clarified confused by Onee-sama's surprise." Genki Girl replied even as she recovered from their jump and got into a half kneel to fire a shot of her railgun rifle that created a nice little hole through the mutated pachyderm's head.

"Why the hell is there a zoo for a space habitat simulation?" Mikoto asked aloud as she watched the zombified elephant let out an angry trumpet call and began charging at them.

Everyone immediately opened fire on the rampaging abomination.

"Ah, so that is the cause of Onee-sama's confusion, says Misaka as she gains understanding to Onee-sama's worries. Zoos are nice, Misaka answers." Tsundere pointed out as if it was obvious as the group was forced to scatter to evade the creature's charge.

Fortunately there weren't any zombies in the area to capitalize on their preoccupation with their elephantine counterpart.

 _Maybe it's a higher food chain zombie? Do zombies even have a hierarchy? Or is Parasol actively controlling them to keep away? If so… Then why are they allowing a massacre like this!?_

"That and they serve as places for experimenting with domesticating new food animals, Misaka adds helpfully." Military Otaku added as they regrouped and she tried to take the elephant down by shooting out one of it knees to no avail as it turned around for another charge.

"Ew, says Misaka as she sticks out her tongue in repulsion." Genki Girl wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue as she took another shot at the behemoth zombie and taking out its eye, not that it did much to the creature beyond annoying it as demonstrated by its infuriated grunt.

Then again there was plenty for it to be irritated at, what with Mecha Fan burning its skin with her laser gatling; Tsundere, Conspiracy Nut and Sentai-chan pouring lead into its flesh; Military Otaku and Genki Girl trying to take out its vitals with their railgun rifles; and Mikoto herself trying her best to fry it with increasingly powerful bolts of electricity.

The onslaught of their attacks rent and tore at its haggard hide, leaving deep wounds that bled gross black liquid for a brief moment before being sealed by hyper accelerated fungal growth that created new masses of the animating fungus all over the poor mutated beast's body.

 _Maybe I should just use my own railgun? Or would that be too much of a waste of ammo?_

While Mikoto was considering her options, the elephant seemed to decide it had enough of being a target dummy. Seeing its charges just weren't working, the team easily scattering whenever it closed often using a little of their electromastery to aid them in their evasion, it stopped stampeding all around and inhaled deeply.

"What the hell is it doing?"

"Not letting it! Misaka roars in defiance." Mecha Fan shouted even as she charged the large zombie apparently intent on tackling it.

Mid-way to her target, she was sent flying back by a spray of the disgusting black liquid that had become the zombie's blood courtesy of its trunk.

"Don't let it touch you! It's how the zombie infection spreads!" Mikoto warned as she sent a relatively weak electrical charge surging through the area, it wasn't enough to actually cause any damage but it allowed her to reach out and through her mastery of electromagnetic fields grab ahold of a large amount of the ferrous particles in the area. At her command, these particles rose up and swarmed around the Level 5 and her clones. The makeshift barriers, protecting them from the deadly black liquid as the elephant began breathing out repeated blasts of the substance.

She really hoped Mecha Fan's Powered Suit was airtight.

Setting that aside to worry about later, she used a burst of calculations and application of will to break out a portion of the iron sand shielding her and formed it into a sword that softly vibrated in her palm. The loss mass weakened her defenses quite a bit and Mikoto could feel the shield increasingly struggling against the elephant's repeated blasts of the zombifying liquid.

"Where does it keep all that stuff." Mikoto mused distractedly, even as she tightened her grip on her newly constructed weapon and prepared to go on the offensive. "Whatever! Time for a different tack. Let's try this!"

Reeling it behind her, Mikoto flicked the iron sand sword forward much like a fishing pole. The tip extended and it lashed out at the mutated elephant's legs. The chainsaw-like vibrations tore through its hide easily and in a single slash took all its limbs out, sending the beast crashing to the ground.

"Ah, Onee-sama's Iron Justice Slash, so cool says Misaka with sparkling eyes." Sentai-chan gushed, giving Mikoto an awed look.

"Make fertilizer out of it, says Misaka as she opens fire!" Military Otaku announced as she and the rest of the Sisters unloaded on the monstrous elephant which was struggling to get back on its feet thanks to new fungal replacements to the lost portions of its limbs. The shotgun equipped Sisters put a stop to these attempts though, advancing closer to the struggling behemoth under the suppressive fire from the rest of the team to use the wide spread of their weapons to tear apart the creature's spongy attempts to regrow legs it could stand on.

They nevertheless kept a safe distance to avoid both the zombies' trunk that lashed out in attempts to keep them away and the spray of black liquid that was sent flying by the barrage of attacks it was being subjected to.

"Keep it up! Misaka orders. We've almost got it! Misaka encourages." Military Otaku shouted, as the time wore on and the elephant slowly began to succumb to its injuries. The fungus across its body that filled in its wounds, did so at a slower and slower rate until finally the beast let out a cry of anguish and finally stopped moving, slumping to the ground.

Just to be sure, from what she knew about zombies, Mikoto whipped her sword again, slicing off its head.

"Ah, always double tap, Misaka nods in understanding." Military Otaku looked at her with pride.

"Yeah," Mikoto wiped some sweat from her forehead. Ugh, she was so going to burn this uniform later. Hell, when they got back up the hazmats would probably demand it from her along with everything she and the Sisters were wearing. She honestly couldn't blame them.

"Alright, let's head down the other line. This one's ruined." Mikoto instructed, getting nods and a salute from her clones.

Getting back into formation, the team moved off alert for any threats.

* * *

Their caution proved warranted as they were repeatedly attacked by small bands of zombies as they walked through the ruined streets of Habitat C. There weren't any more swarms like the one they encountered when they first entered the Colony, Mikoto thanked Science for that, but that didn't make the encounters with them any less harrowing especially when some of the zombies started projectile vomiting their zombifying blood at them from range. Fortunately, their aim was crap and the team was more than able to avoid getting touched by the stuff, largely due to Mikoto's vigilance and her iron sand barriers.

Now though, the [Railgun] found herself facing what her gut was telling her would be a even more unsettling experience. With a knot twisted inside of her stomach, Mikoto gazed up at an elementary school. One that the team needed to cut through.

 _It's the fastest way to the rail station. Just, just go through it._

Finally getting her hands to stop shaking, Mikoto said, "Let's go, but let's not make too much noise. Just… Just in case."

All the Sisters looked at Mecha Fan.

"What? Misaka asks while clearly knowing why she is receiving looks."

"Enough," Mikoto whispered harshly as she started moving, forcing the Sisters to follow suit. "She can't help that the Powered Suit is noisy."

"At least Onee-sama is understanding, Misaka huffs. Not like the other Sisters, Misaka adds angrily." Mecha Fan whispered, though the speakers of her suit still made it sound like she was speaking at close to a normal volume.

A series of annoyed looks were sent at Mecha Fan by the other Sisters and the girl in the Suit quelled, though by her mulish expression she wasn't happy at being silenced.

 _I wonder how they got her to keep quiet so easily. Their looks aren't_ that _intimidating. Hmm… Did they scold her over their AIM network, I wonder?_

"Fine, fine, Misaka tries her hardest to whisper."

"Ssh, Misaka says harshly." Military Otaku said as they stepped into the building. "Does anyone hear that? Misaka asks warily."

"It sounds like classical music, Misaka observes." Conspiracy Nut said in agreement. "Camille Saint-Saëns' ' _The Carnival of the Animals_ ', Misaka clarifies."

"Misaka does not like this, Misaka says as she holds her rifle tighter." Tsundere whispered to Mikoto. "Why is it playing over the PA in a zombie apocalypse? Misaka asks rhetorically. It's creepy, Misaka insists."

"It was probably for nap time or something." Mikoto added. Praying that the children were at least asleep when the zombies got them or if they were still hiding out somewhere in the school that they were asleep and unaware of the horror show their home had become.

"Would the noise not draw more zombies, Misaka retorts with a nervous gulp."

"It's too soft or the soundproofing of the building is too good, Misaka observes. We didn't hear it from the outside, Misaka adds." Sentai-chan pointed out. "The dastardly monsters couldn't hear the music, Misaka reasons."

Despite that reassurance, some of the Sisters still seemed to be looking at every shadow, as if expecting a child zombie to lurch out of them.

Mikoto was in the same boat as she fingered a Dark Matter token, ready to fire it just in case of a nasty surprise.

"Wait, can you hear that? Underneath the music? Misaka asks," Mecha Fan asked, tilting her head towards a hallway that led to the left. "It sounds like humming, Misaka adds."

"I'm not hearing anything like that, maybe it's the Suits sensors? But if they're humming… Survivors?" Mikoto asked hopefully.

"Misaka does not think that is likely, Misaka thinks going over the statistics." Military Otaku began only to hastily backpedal at the crestfallen look Mikoto gave her. "Still, we need to go left anyways, so we might as well check it out, Misaka concedes."

"But we need to be ready in case it's _not_ survivors, Misaka adds." Conspiracy Nut said ominously.

Mikoto gulped nervously, aware of what the clone was implying. That in all likelihood whatever was humming wasn't human, at least not anymore, and that they would be forced to kill it.

After taking a moment to collect herself, the [Railgun] nodded to show she was ready and the group proceeded deeper into the school. It looked like a stereotypical elementary school. In fact it looked a lot more neat and tidy than most, so much so that Mikoto could almost forget she was in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.

That was if they didn't have to occasionally walk pass patches of dried blood and around puddles of zombifying black goo. Though even those were being cleaned up by cleaning robots that thankfully ignored their intrusion.

As they walked further and further in though, pass empty classroom after empty classroom, the humming became more and more obvious until they reached a set of doors with the words auditorium printed in bright rainbow colours in kataka across them.

"The humming is coming from inside, Misaka says nervously." Mecha Fan confirmed.

"Maybe it's survivors after all?" Mikoto asked. Who was she trying to convince? The Sisters or herself? All of them knew, just knew, that they wouldn't find any survivors inside… But what if they were wrong? It was this tiny sliver of hope that had Mikoto opening the doors unto a scene straight out of hell.

Standing in the auditorium in a series of concentric circles were the school's students and staff. All of them zombified. All of them humming and swaying to the sound of the classical music being played by an audio player set up in the centre of the room. The sound of the door opening disturbed whatever they were doing however and as one, the room full of zombies turned their heads to look at the team.

Seeing them all, Mikoto felt a part of her die inside. Not even the horrendous scene from the cameras had affected her like this. Mikoto told herself she'd stare into the abyss, just like her kohai could, yet...

 _Saten, Namikaze… I-I don't think I can do this._ Mikoto thought as the 'abyss' was now staring back at her through each and every one of those milky white childish eyes. Even the Sisters seemed shaken as they all collectively took a step back in horror.

One of them let out a shrill shriek, the Level 5 couldn't tell who. And as if that were a command to attack, all the tiny monstrosities charged at them as if they were party clowns.

"Fire! Misaka orders." Military Otaku announced, breaking Mikoto from her horror-stricken state. Alongside her, the Sisters began unloading the full weight of their arsenal on the horde while Mikoto herself unleashed bolts of electricity without even bothering to aim, she just threw them at the zombies. All the while, the childish shireks echoed in her mind and ate at her soul.

A creature that at one point might have been a pair of little twin girls if the similarity of their surviving features were any indication but which had been fused together by the fungal mass they was controlling them, scampered pass the withering fire of the team, even ducking down to crawl on all fours of their remaining limbs to avoid a shotgun blast from Sentai-chan and made it into the middle of their formation. Despite her shaken spirit, Mikoto had enough fight inside her to react quickly and released a powerful burst of static that fried the creature and hopefully released the girls' from their torment.

"Grenade! Misaka warns." Tsundere shouted as she tossed a couple of fragmentation grenades overhead and into the slobbering hordes.

Mikoto reached out with her powers and created a wall of iron sand that shielded the team from the relatively close explosions and their sharpnel. Inspired by the latter though, the Number 5 followed up by sending the iron sand she'd gathered out in a storm of deadly bullets that took out the remainder of the zombies.

In the aftermath of her attack, an eerie silence filled the room, one that was only broken by the music that continued to play in the background.

At least it did until Mikoto sent a blast to destroy the audio player.

Silently, the [Railgun] walked across the room to the emergency exit on its far aside that had been their goal in coming here in the first place, the Sisters worriedly following her. Mikoto barely made it out of the auditorium before she began retching onto the floor, emptying her stomach contents.

Genki Girl ran up to her, running her hand up and down her back much like how Mama would when she got sick at home.

"Onee-sama, w-we can stop here, Misaka says, worrying for Onee-sama's status after these grueling events. Misaka highly recommends it, Misaka says pleadingly."

Using her wrist to wipe her mouth clean, the original shook her head, "I'm good. Just needed to get it out of my system."

Gritting her teeth, Mikoto stood up and took a deep breath.

"We need to finish this," the Level 5 said, a fire burning in her eyes. "We can't let Parasol get away with this. This has to end."

The Sisters all nodded in nervous agreement.

* * *

"This the station?" Mikoto asked tiredly as they stood in front of a once fancy building that was flooded.

"Yes, Onee-sama, Misaka informs helpfully." Genki Girl confirmed while pointing to the sign on the building's side identifying it as the Fujiwara Station and Aquarium.

 _Well, at least that explains why it's flooded. The exhibits must have sprung a leak in all the chaos. Now we just have to pray for no zombie sharks._

"We'll need to be careful, Misaka warns." Military Otaku said as they began moving through the waist deep water and into the ruined building. "There might be things hiding in the water, Misaka clarifies."

Those words proved to be prophetic a few minutes later. By this time, they had been about halfway through the building when a human sized creature lunged at Tsundere from out of the water.

Tsundere reacted admirably and unleashed a hail of bullets from her assault rifle at the thing even as it dove back into the water and quickly swam away, avoiding the retaliatory fire from the team.

"What was that? Misaka asked in horror." Genki Girl asked, suppressing a shiver.

Mikoto had no idea. The thing had only been on the surface for a moment and all the Tokiwadai student could make out was its pale slimy skin and legs that sickeningly looked liked human arms.

"Misaka is just glad they don't bleed the black goo, Misaka says with a sigh of relief." Conspiracy Nut said while pointing with her shotgun at the trail of thankfully normal looking red blood that the creature left in the water as it had fled.

This observation sent a wave of relief over the whole team. None of them, except Conspiracy Nut apparently, had realized it but fighting zombies in water when their infection vector was some kind of liquid was tantamount to suicide without sealed suits. That they weren't in such a situation was something that all of them were incredibly thankful for.

"Onee-sama! Unusual electrical buildup detected!" Mecha Fan shouted suddenly.

Mikoto had felt it too, as a Level 5 Electromaster, she didn't need a fancy Powered Suit's sensors to detect a basic electrical buildup, and had spun in the direction of its source.

There on what had been the counter of some kind of kiosk was another of the creatures, which on a more detailed inspection looked like someone had crossed a salamander with a human and came up with some kind of monstrosity. It had a salamander's general body shape, including a long serpentine tail but its legs were shaped like slender feminine looking human arms, a plethora of tentacle like growths along its front shoulders, and a strange recessed head with no neck that rested directly between the creature's front shoulders.

Beyond the single visible creature, Mikoto could detect about a half dozen others scattered in the water all around them as well. All of them building up an electrical charge, presumably preparing to unleash it against them.

 _Monsters with electromaster? With the output they're pumping out they can't be more than Level 2, but with their numbers that's still dangerous._ Mikoto analyzed tactically even as a corner of her mind reeled at what bioweapons with electromastery likely meant.

"We don't have time for you pipsqueaks!" Mikoto roared, ignoring her worries, as she overwhelmed the amphibious monstrosities with her own electricity and charred them black.

Huffing and puffing, electricity crackling around her, Mikoto looked to the Sisters, "Let's get onboard."

"Yes, Onee-sama! Misaka says." The Sisters answered in reply.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!**

 **Man, this just gets harder and harder for Mikoto. As the 'human' element of the Trinity, this rips at her soul. Now, while this is not going out on Halloween, this is still our Halloween special. So I hope you are enjoying it!**

 **Nameless: Okay, horror monster identification time! First off, the zombies we're using here are based off those in the Last of Us, namely the Infected. Though in our verse the infection spreads via a black liquid, the nature of which will be explained in the next chapter. The zombie elephant was inspired by a similar boss in Resident Evil Outbreak File #2. The conjoined twin zombies in the elementary school was inspired by the Twin Victim from Silent Hill 4: The Room, while the elementary school scene in general was inspired by the scene in a school in the second Resident Evil movie. Lastly, the salamander things were based off Albinoids from Resident Evil CODE: Veronica.**

 **Well, with that shop of horrors done, let's see just how far Mikoto can go without breaking.**

 **Nameless: She is a particularly determined, or should we say stubborn, person. So she'll power through it I'm sure. The aftermath though is where she's really going to hurt.**

 **You know what to do, smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	32. Chapter 32

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Toaru Kagaku no Railgun/Toaru Majutsu no Index**

 **The Trinity of Tokiwadai**

 **Chapter Thirty Two: Malevolent Biohazard - The Habitat Zero Massacre**

 **Beta:**

* * *

"This is it?" Mikoto asked tiredly as she pointed to what at first glance looked like a nondescript building in Habitat A.

The trek through the remainder of Habitat C and the rest of the way through Habitat A had thankfully been largely uneventful. Mikoto wasn't sure she could stomach another encounter like the one in that elementary school. In the face of that, the occasional bands of roaming zombies they'd had to deal with en route had been a relief.

"Yes, Onee-sama, Misaka confirms." Military Otaku said as they cautiously entered the walled compound of the research facility that contained the hidden access tunnel that led to Habitat 0.

"Then we should expect something here. It was ground zero, right?" Mikoto frowned as she held a coin out and shuffled it through her fingers nervously,

"For Habitat A, yes. Misaka agrees." Conspiracy Nut said with a nod. "The other Habitats were infected via their own, now sealed, tunnels to Habitat 0, Misaka elaborates."

"Ssh, Misaka whispers." Genki Girl said softly. "Did you hear that? Misaka asks, while surveying the surroundings warily."

"More zombies? Misaka says tiredly." Sentai-chan asked. "Even this hero of justice is feeling tired of facing them, Misaka adds with a sigh."

The sound of marching boots reached Mikoto's ears, causing her to tense up in preparation for a fight.

"Okay, I definitely heard that and it doesn't sound like zombies."

"Too regimented, Misaka notes in support of Onee-sama's assessment." Tsundere concurred.

"Whatever they are, they're just around the corner in the train station, Misaka notes grimly." Military Otaku pointed out.

"The suit's sensors are picking up seven unknowns in there, Misaka informs the group." Mecha Fan said, confirming their fears.

"Awfully conveniently that's exactly where we want to go, Misaka grumbles suspiciously." Conspiracy Nut muttered under her breath.

"We'll just have to face them head on like the heroes we are, Misaka insists," Sentai-chan said with a determined nod.

As they rounded the corner, they found seven abnormally tall men, dressed in heavy trench coats over their hulking frames. They all looked fairly identical to the others. Each of them had perfectly bald heads that shined in the flickering lights of the train station and their heavy boots clanked with each step they took. They were pacing the station in what looked a patrol pattern while armed with miniguns.

"Humans?" Mikoto breathed out in shock.

"Negative, Onee-sama. Misaka corrects." Mecha Fan said as she raised her gatling laser at the humanoid beings who had all frozen and turned their attention to the group with eerie synchronicity. "Their vital signs are well outside human parameters. Misaka informs the group worriedly."

As the things' miniguns spun, Mikoto hastily grabbed hold of a selection of metal benches and other metallic constructs in the area with her powers and created a hastily erected shield that protected them from the hail of bullets fired their way.

"The guns are non-magnetic metals and their bullets too! How prepared were these Parasol people?" Mikoto cursed even as she fired a bolt of electricity over her makeshift barricade at the humanoid bioweapons, because what else could they be, that were firing at them.

"It's as if they knew we would be coming down here, Misaka hisses suspiciously." Conspiracy Nut said as she fired her shotgun through a hole in the barrier Mikoto made for her and adding her pellets to the return fire the Sisters were dishing out at the monsters.

"They were working on splicing Onee-sama's DNA into their bioweapons, Misaka points out. Taking that into consideration, shielding against electromastery would be a valid concern, Misaka argues." Genki Girl countered.

"Miska concurs with 11118, Misaka says while rolling her eyes at 13577." Tsundere said as she tossed a grenade over their shield.

The original ground her teeth at the reminder that Parasol was actively creating electromastery using bioweapons like those salamander things back at the aquarium using her DNA. She couldn't help but wonder how many more times her DNA Map was going to be taken advantage of for weapons?

With a frustrated growl, Mikoto said, "We don't have time for these small fries."

Putting her action to her words, she sent the barrier flying towards the bioweapons at high speed while using her powers to reshape it so spikes of twisted metal jutted out from its surfaces as they slammed into the gun toting behemoths.

Even impaled the creatures struggled. Some tried to shoot their way free while others dropped their guns and attempted to use their clearly superhuman strength to tear themselves out. But Mikoto was having none of it.

"Stay down, you bastards!" The [Railgun] snapped as she wrapped all seven of the bioweapons up in an ever tighter ball of metal and added metallic sand to the mix to plug the gaps and make their little prison inescapable for the things. They might not be human anymore but they seemed normal enough, maybe after all this was over someone topside could fix whatever Parasol had done to them.

The stress of their struggles seemed to trigger something within the things though as they began to mutate on the spot. Their muscles bulging explosively to the point of ripping their coats to shreds while their hands transformed into vicious looking talons.

"What?" Mikoto called up, shocked by the change.

"Kill them! Misaka shrieked in terror. Kill them now before they mutate into something unstoppable! Misaka insists." Conspiracy Nut said tugging urgently on Mikoto's arm.

The clone might have been hysterical but she had a point. There was no telling whether this sudden change was the limit to these things' mutations. For all they knew Conspiracy Nut was right and they could keep mutating to the point they were beyond their ability to stop.

Mikoto couldn't take that risk. Not with the lives of the Sisters on the line.

With her heart weighed down by what she needed to do, the Number 5 raised her shaking hand and looked at the metallic sphere containing the struggling monsters with tear filled eyes.

It was as if no matter what she tried, there would be no means to save anyone.

Mikoto felt her heart break at that. No, if it was to save them at least from continuing to suffer as whatever monsters they had become, she… had to end them.

"I'm sorry," The [Railgun] whispered as she closed her trembling fist. At this action, her sand poured into the spherical prison she'd created and began twisting within thus transforming the interior into a giant blender that ground her foes trapped inside into a fine bloody paste that gushed out of the sphere as she compressed it around the dying bodies.

By the time she was done, where there once stood seven imposing bioweapons there was now only a single car sized metallic sphere covered in blood in the middle of a veritable _lake_ of the sanguine fluid.

"Ah, Onee-sama is ruthless, says Misaka as her heart flutters at the sight of Onee-sama's power." Tsundere whispered loudly.

Mikoto wanted to slap the clone for that. She wasn't ruthless! She just didn't have a choice.

It wasn't the clone's fault though. Considering how it was raised, it probably didn't understand Mikoto's feelings.

This realization tempered her anger and instead of lashing out, she merely gruffly said, "Let's just get going!"

"Happily, says Misaka as she skips after Onee-sama." Tsundere gushed much like Kuroko would.

Now that was a creepy thought.

Ignoring her fears over Kuroko and this particular clone ever meeting, she joined the Sisters as they got back into formation and boarded the train.

As the train pulled away from the station, Mikoto swore that she was going to end this madness.

* * *

Looking out the train windows as they began to pull into the Habitat 0 light rail station, Mikoto cursed as she glimpsed the packs of zombies and more of the bioweapons they'd encountered back in Habitat A.

"How many of them are out there?" Mikoto asked Mecha Fan whose sensors would be able to get the best read on the situation.

"One hundred and twenty seven zombies, eleven of those coat wearing bioweapons and one armored version of the latter, Misaka reads off her suit's sensors." Mecha Fan reported dutifully.

"Time check? Misaka asks worried about the time limit hanging over their head." Military Otaku asked suddenly as she fidgeted nervously.

Mikoto looked at her watch, where the time relentlessly ticked down, "We have a little under two hours left."

It was surprising how long they had been down here. Mikoto honestly thought they'd have more time. But despite all the time and distance covered, they hadn't found a single survivor yet. A fact that dampened her spirits greatly.

"Don't think on it, Misaka tells Onee-sama," Genki Girl said squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. "If you let it bring you down, you'll not be able to fight properly, Misaka warns."

The original turned to the Sister and offered a tiny smile, "Thanks."

"Anytime Onee-sama, Misaka chirps happily."

"We're pulling it into the station, Misaka warns." Sentai-chan said, nudging Mikoto. "Onee-sama raise up your heroic shield to protect us against from the villains' dastardly attack, Misaka encourages Onee-sama."

With such a goof in the group, Mikoto couldn't resist letting out a chuckle, "You got it."

At that, she used the iron sand which she'd filled most of the train with when they'd left Habitat A to form a wall against the bullets that rained on the train as it came to a stop. She waited till it finally came to a complete stop before firing out a barrage of iron side bullets at the enemy hordes.

The barrage managed to take out a good number of zombies and disable a number of the coat wearing bioweapon's miniguns. Though much to Mikoto's shock, a good number of zombies had even went out of their way to use their bodies to suicidally defend the larger bioweapons.

Nevertheless, it had created enough confusion on the station to actually allow the team to get off the train while still shielded by a barrier of iron sand.

The moment they did, the disarmed hulking bioweapons charged towards them while wading through the zombies, the hordes of which parted like the Red Sea before Moses to give them free passage even as they ran beside them intent on tearing Mikoto and the Sisters apart. Even as the bioweapons still equipped with miniguns provided supporting fire for them, alongside a missile launcher equipped armored version.

 _Looks like the Sisters was right. Parasol_ must _be able to control these zombies somehow._ Mikoto gnawed her lower lip. If they knew how, perhaps they could disable them. Microchip? Electronic wave? No, she wasn't sensing anything in the airwaves. _Maybe they're using some kind of telepathic control like [Mental Out]?_

"We need to take out the armored one! Misaka orders," Mecha Fan shouted as she used the gatling laser to shoot down the missile that had been fired at them by the aforementioned armoured bioweapon.

"I've got it!" Mikoto shouted as without hesitation she flicked her Dark Matter coin into the electromagnetic barrel she created with her electromastery. The electromagnetic forces in the barrel proceeded to send the coin flying at the armored bioweapon.

Very deliberately, the coin broke the sound barrier in the middle of the charging ranks of the bioweapons that sent them reeling as a result of the displaced air or outright burned to a crisp by the superheating of the air caused by the coin's passage.

Despite its armor, the targeted monster didn't stand a chance either. Against the railgun shot its feeble defense folded like tissue paper and it was ended in an instant, its hulking body completely destroyed. Its whole upper body had been disintegrated by the railgun shot and the mangled remains of its lower body and surviving extremities were reduced to charcoal. The shot also proceeded to bore a hole into the far wall behind the creature but since Mikoto was fairly sure they wouldn't be using this particular station on their way out, she wasn't worried that she'd accidentally destroyed something they would need later.

"Come on, we don't have any time to lose, says Misaka as she continues her assault." Military Otaku ordered as she pulled off a headshot on one of the hulking bioweapons, killing it in one hit.

They were still at least seven of the behemoths left though, two of them with their miniguns still blazing away, and at least fifty and likely more zombies supporting them. Though that number was quickly thinned thanks to a pair of grenades Tsundere tossed into their ranks. The sharpnel tore at least a dozen of the zombies apart and staggered one of the gunners long enough for Mecha Fan to cook it with her gatling laser.

At the same time, Genki Girl had used her railgun rifle to blow apart the shoulder of the other behemoth with a gun and thus take out its ability to use its mingun. The wound rapidly regenerated in front of their eyes but thankfully Genki Girl quickly recalibrated her aim and took a second shot that nicely took its head off entirely, killing the thing before it could finish its healing.

Both Conspiracy Nut and Sentai-chan were pumping lead from their shotguns into the zombie swarms and thinning them out quickly, soon being helped by Tsundere's rifle and sniping from Genki Girl and Military Otaku.

 _I guess that means I get the remaining behemoths._ Mikoto thought with a frown as she remembered what she'd been forced to do with the last group of these bioweapons.

She didn't hesitate to do what needed to be done however and gathering together a large mass of iron sand shaped it into five lances that she fired at the remaining coat wearing bioweapons. The things were staggered as the lances impaled them but weren't out of the fight yet and struggled to remove them.

 _Yeah no. None of that on my watch!_ Mikoto thought to herself as she had spikes explode out of the lances, thus transforming the creatures they were impaled within into little more than gigantic pin cushions.

By this time, the majority of the zombies had also been cleared out by the Sisters with only about a dozen remaining.

Being the conscientious Onee-sama that she was, Mikoto decided to help them finish the job by launching bullets of iron sand from the barrier she continued to maintain around them at the remaining zombies, tearing them apart and hopefully liberating the people they once were from whatever tortured existence their lives had become.

"The area is clear, Misaka reports dutifully." Mecha Fan informed the group readily after a moment of silence.

"Then let's move out, Misaka orders. But keep your guard up and be wary of ambushes, Misaka cautions."

Mikoto nodded along to Military Otaku's assessment of the situation and dutifully followed as the Sisters began moving deeper into the facility without breaking formation. As they advanced, the Sisters scanned the area and Mikoto did the same. Doing so however made something somewhat off putting obvious almost immediately: the surrounding area seemed unmolested. Except from damage caused by their previous battle there were absolutely no signs of fighting anywhere in Habitat 0 as far as they could tell.

"Parasol must have transported the infected to the other habitats, Misaka notes sorrowfully as she tries to understand why they would do this." Genki Girl said with a frown.

"Obviously as a means to improve their research on biological warfare, Misaka notes in a condescending tone." Conspiracy Nut said. "Did you expect any better from scientists working in Academy City? Misaka asks rhetorically. They're a bunch of amoral monsters, just look at what they did to us in the Level 6 Shift, Misaka bitterly adds."

Mikoto felt disgusted but had to agree with Conspiracy Nut. Humans could be some of the most cruel things in the world. She was learning that more and more as she dived into the Dark Side. Especially the scientists of Academy City. Sure some like Kiyama-sensei were just good people forced into bad situations and forced to do dangerous things to help themselves or those they cared about but most of them? They were scum!

"As long as there are good people like Onee-sama and the Trinity, I'm sure we can stop villains like these in the future, Misaka opines optimistically." Sentai-chan added into the conversation.

"Hmph! Misaka huffs as she scathingly thinks to herself that humans will never change from being the monsters who think they can manipulate life as they see fit." Conspiracy Nut snidely noted.

"Guys, enough. We have to focus." Mikoto told them as they found a helpful sign painted on the wall with directions to various sections of the facility.

"Yes Onee-sama Misaka quietly grumbles." The two that had been told off replied.

"Right it is, Misaka orders after examining the sign." Military Otaku said as she finished reading the sign. It clearly pointed down the rightward corridor as the way to their objective: Habitat 0's control center. The control center would be the logical place from which to control the bioweapons and would also have master access to all the systems, thus making it the best place to serve as their entry point into the local systems in search of where they stored Mikoto's DNA Map.

"We're almost there." Mikoto breathed in relief. "Almost."

"Yes. It's almost over, Onee-sama, Misaka reassures." Tsundere said, offering Mikoto an encouraging smile. "We'll end this soon, Misaka says with certainty."

Mikoto just nodded, wishing that she shared the clone's sense of surety as she followed her and her fellows down the right hand hallway.

* * *

Of course the entryway to the control center was guarded. What else did Mikoto honestly expect at this point?

What she did not expect were _how_ it was guarded. In front of her was an entire section of the hallway that had been converted into a death trap. Like something straight out of a Bond villain's lair, there were laser grids moving up and down the corridor in seemingly random patterns.

It would have been really impressive she'd imagine if the intruders had not been a bunch of skilled Electromasters. As they were exactly that though… They had the entire grid shut down in seconds thanks to the simple application of some electromastery to wirelessly connect to the relevant systems and a little hacking.

The team thus confidently marched down the now supposedly undefended corridor towards the sealed doors to the control center. They were about halfway through the section previously protected by the laser grids when a heavy door opened on the far side and unleashed some kinda super zombie.

It was a girl but her body was hideously deformed by a plethora of fungal growths that forced her into a hunched posture which in turn caused her to walk with a awkward gait. She was wearing a tattered dress, a pair of broken manacles, handcuffs and a burlap hood over her face.

Most unnervingly she cried out in a broken voice for her "Mummy!" even as she lumbered down the corridor at them in a slow but relentless charge.

"Open fire! Misaka orders frantically, unnerved by the zombie." Military Otaku shouted even as she took off a section of the monster's head with her railgun only for the creature to regenerate the damage almost immediately.

The other Sisters likewise poured fire into the slowly closing monster. They shot off whole portions of its body at a time but none of the damage stuck as it rapidly regenerated its wounds right in front of their eyes. Mikoto tried to fry it but all that did was char its skin for a bit before the burned portions just flaked off. Thankfully, none of the detached portions seemed to be regenerating. This monster was likely going to be hell to put down, if it was _self-replicating_ then it might just be impossible to defeat.

Disturbingly, throughout all this the creature kept crying out in pain and for its "Mummy!"

 _Is there some twisted remains of its humanity in there?_ Mikoto thought to herself while biting her lower lip in sympathy even as tried to fry it once more. _If there is, we need to free it. Damn it! I really wish I could use my railgun here._

But she couldn't. Not while they were in the confined space of a corridor. The heat from her shot alone might boil all of them alive without a larger amount of air to disperse it, or the shot might just bring the whole place down on top of them.

In the time that Mikoto took to consider this, the zombie had closed to within striking distance of Mecha Fan. With an almost casual swing of one of her now free hands, the handcuffed originals having been shot off and replaced by newly regenerated replacements, the monster sent the Sister and her heavy Powered Suit flying into a wall.

Mikoto and the other Sisters scattered immediately at the sight of that.

"Avoid melee, Misaka observes fearfully." Military Otaku ordered rather unncessarily.

"You think?" Mikoto hissed under her breath as she flung several bolts of lightning at the hulking monstrosity which just shed its skin like a snake once more to rid itself of its charred skin.

By now the abomination had already taken so much damage that it had probably regenerated every single part of itself at least once. Or that's the impression Mikoto had at seeing the now nude creature, its clothes having long since been destroyed by the damage it had sustained.

Naked, the monster looked even more grotesque and heart wrenchingly sad. For at least the burlap sack it had worn earlier had hidden the still very much human face it still possessed, one twisted in a permanent look of utter agony. Or the way her tattered dress had downplayed just how heavily the girl's body had been twisted by what had been done to her. Fungal growths grew from her genitals for Science's sake!

"MUMMY~!" It wailed in a broken voice, even as it stumbled towards Mikoto apparently annoyed at having been charbroiled.

Mikoto had to visibly squash her bubbling sadness while bolstering her resolve as she used a burst of electromagnetically assisted gymnastics to move to the other side of the corridor. The creature couldn't seem to follow Mikoto's movements and it stopped for a moment, spinning around in confusion as it tried to figure out where its prey had gone.

"Shoot out her legs!" Mikoto ordered, "Or otherwise keep it in place somehow."

Military Otaku seemed to catch onto what her progenitor had in mind because her order fit in perfectly with Mikoto's plan.

"Do it while retreating out of the laser corridor! Misaka orders."

The Sisters complied readily, shooting as they moved. They aimed at the zombie's legs taking them off time and time again, forcing it to fall to the floor while they regenerated. That failed to stop its single minded determination to attack them and it attempted to crawl after them, forcing them to blast its arms off as well. _Even then_ the tortured girl tried to crawl after them even as her limbs regenerated.

However, she never got anywhere close to the Sisters or Mikoto as they fled on nimble feet back to the other side of the laser corridor.

"Onee-sama do it! Misaka urges." Tsundere shouted as she made it to safety, the last of their group to do so.

With a nod, Mikoto reactivated the laser grids. A checkerboard pattern immediately flew down the corridor from both directions, both spinning until their patterns matched in such a way that each square was bisected by a laser from the other pattern. These two now paired grids met as they passed through the monster which was crawling limblessly on the ground. It let out a brief cry of pain as the lasers cut it into tiny pieces but quickly became silent as its cooked remains fell to the ground in neat chunks.

Mikoto's heart shattered for what felt like the umpteenth time on this mission as she was forced to kill yet another victim of Parasol's mad science.

 _No more. Please no more._ Mikoto begged any higher being that might be listening. _I don't think I can take much more._

* * *

The moment Mikoto crossed the threshold into the control center, she knew her wish had not been granted. The lab was empty and silent as a grave which just set off alarms in the Level 5's head. The control panels were all lit up, readings and code rolling down the monitors at random intervals.

 _This is a trap._ The Number 5 thought to herself tiredly.

As if to prove the exhausted [Railgun] correct, a nearby door was ripped open by a hulking monster. The creature was at least three meters tall with scaly skin covering its humanoid body. Claws protruded from its hands and feet as a tail frantically whipped around behind it. But most disturbingly was the upside down human face that it had at the end of a extended neck that drooped down to the level of her mid chest, for beyond how it was oddly inverted and its reptilian eyes, it was exactly like her own.

In other situations she might have quipped that the aberrant creature that emerged was an "end game boss" but she was honestly not in the mood for jokes at the moment.

That and the fact that Mikoto's blood had run cold as she stared at her own face staring back at her from the monster's body. A face that was twisted in a grotesque reflection of her own expressions as it roared in both anger and anguish.

When? When would her stolen DNA map not be used as part of some sick perversion to 'advance' science?

A small part of Mikoto wanted to save it, just like how the Sisters were saved. Sadly, her logical side knew that no matter what, there was nothing to be saved here. At least the Sisters had a functional mind while… this was just a raging beast.

"That sounds more like a gorilla than a lizard, Misaka notes warily." Conspiracy Nut observed clinically. "This abomination might have the DNA of more animals spliced into it than is immediately obvious, Misaka adds. Be wary of unexpected surprises, Misaka warns."

"Misaka is more worried about that mingun it's carrying, Misaka begs to differ." Genki Girl retorted.

"Whatever, I have no patience for this anymore!" Mikoto roared as she shot a lightning bolt at the aberration, only to have it be deflected thus leaving the Level 5 gaping in shock.

"It's at least a Level 3 variant of us, Misaka notes." Tsundere said. "It can interfere with Onee-sama's powers, Misaka observes. Onee-sama, please be careful, Misaka asks while deeply concerned."

Grounding her teeth, Mikoto made a call that twisted her heart once more.

"Put it out of its misery. Now."

At her command the Sisters sprung into action and unleashed hell on the creature, but like with the super zombie they'd just put down this abomination just took the hits and regenerated any damage it sustained. All the while, it returned fire with its own deadly minigun.

Mikoto was ready for that though and had quickly raised a barrier of iron sand to protect the team from the ceramic bullets it was pouring on them like rain.

"Shoot out the foul monster's wrists, Misaka suggests." Sentai-chan shouted. "Make it drop its instrument of death, Misaka clarifies."

Both Military Otaku and Genki Girl lined up shots with their railgun rifles and scored perfect shots that should have shattered the thing's wrists but the aberration didn't even seem to notice, as the damage was blunted by its scales and healed up before they could make a difference.

"New plan, take out the gun directly, Misaka suggests while suppressing a sigh at the absurdity of the previous one." Tsundere said as tossed a grenade at the monster. The grenade showered the creature in sharpnel but like everything else didn't cause any lasting damage which caused her to frown.

"Let me try, Misaka asks while hiding her smile at 10287's failure." Genki Girl said as she promptly fired a railgun round directly down one of the minigun's barrels.

 _Science! How in the world did she manage a shot like that?_ Mikoto thought to herself in awe even as the round ripped a nice and big tear in the weapon rendering it inoperable.

Seems military training via Testament really did wonders.

Not that the monster seemed to mind much. It just glanced down at its disabled weapon and frowned before tossing it aside like yesterday's garbage and charged at the Sisters. Having learned their lesson from the fight with the super zombie, the group scattered with even Mecha Fan avoiding getting into a fistfight with the superhumanly strong, it did tear open a heavy metal door earlier, monster.

"14091, 13577, suppress its powers, Misaka orders." Military Otaku commanded. "11118, help me suppress it, Misaka adds. 11132, use your Powered Suit to engage it in melee, Misaka finishes."

With their plan formulated, the Sisters moved like an well oiled machines. Conspiracy Nut and Sentai-chan fell back and looks of concentration appeared on their faces as they began interfering with the aberration's electromastery with their own.

The abomination roared in anger, presumably having realized that it's esper powers were shut down. Acting out on its fury, it lashed out at Mecha Fan as she closed. Or at least it tried. As it raised its arms to smash them down on top of the Powered Suit wearing Sister, both Genki Girl and Military Otaku shot it in its center mass. While the damage was minimal and was easily regenerated, the power of the shots still managed to still have the strength to stagger it back. This created the opening that Mecha Fan exploited to finish closing with the beast.

"Rip and tear! Misaka roars, recalling her favourite iconic phrase from her gaming." Mecha Fan shouted as she slammed into the off-balance monster, toppling it over.

The creature tried to wrap its arms around Mecha Fan's Powered Suit but Genki Girl and Military Otaku shot its arms, imparting enough force that it could not do so, at least not before Mecha Fan pinned both arms down and popping out a pair of smaller, more rudimentary manipulator arms equipped with what Mikoto guessed were heat blades that she promptly used to began sawing the monster's arms off.

 _I've got to get in on that action._ Mikoto realized as she shook off her lethargy. Sending tendrils of her iron sand to wrap around various parts of the monster, she had them began vibrating the particles so as to cut into its flesh.

Soon the abomination's blood was flying everywhere as between Mecha Fan's heat blades and Mikoto's iron sand acting as vibro blades, they butchered the struggling creature. It howled in agony but no one was feeling up to offering it any sympathy as they systematically cut off first its limbs then cutting open its chest cavity to rip its innards out before finally finishing it off by decapitating it.

It was brutal and inhumane but no one, not even Mikoto, wanted to give the chimera a chance to regenerate and were more than willing to set aside their morals to ensure that it died. Painful death or no.

That was why even after they had disemboweled it and taken its head off, Mikoto still used a powerful electric bolt to reduce it to charcoal just to be sure it stayed dead.

Despite her recognition of the necessity for such action, her morality still burned a hole in her heart. Thus it took a moment after the fight finally ended for her to collect herself and suppress her guilt to deal with later.

 _I still can do something though,_ Mikoto thought as she moved to one of the still functional monitors. Using her powers, she hacked into the system and looked over the data. She used none of her usual relative finesse and just brute forced her way through any and all defenses she found. She was too tired for anything else.

And what she found made the level 5 snarl.

Parasol had purposely let the containment breach happen.

They had gathered enough data on the habitat living experiment years ago and had long shifted into the realm of biological weapon development. The inhabitants were used as test subjects under the guise of clinical check ups and experimental medical drugs to better survive in the habitats. Eventually they grew bored of that and went into straight up madness and decided to use the habitats to field test their bioweapons in an urban environment.

The sick and twisted bastards had then proceed to observe the so called _experiment_ offsite, safe and sound as their abominations massacred thousands of innocent lives.

"Onee-sama, Misaka says to hopefully turn Onee-sama away from the monitor." Genki Girl said, earning Mikoto's attention. She turned to see the Sister on another terminal. "Misaka has located and deleted Onee-sama's DNA Map, Misaka says triumphantly at the small victory for the Misakas."

"As far as Misaka can tell this appears to be the only copy Parasol had access to as it had complex measures in place to prevent duplication, Misaka adds." Sentai-chan chirped.

"Misaka has discovered the command program for the bioweapons and has sent them the order to self-terminate, Misaka says in distaste over this whole affair." Military Otaku said as she typed away at another terminal.

"How did Parasol even manage to control the bioweapons in the first place, Misaka ponders with worry that this tragedy might repeat itself." Tsundere fidgeted from where she stood, glancing around as if expecting another bioweapon to burst into the room despite their affirmed termination.

"Simply, Misaka says as she adopts a lecturing pose," Conspiracy Nut said as she raised her right arm in an L-shape while holding a finger of her right hand in the air while she supported her right arm with her other hand by resting it on her right elbow. "They seemed to have used some form of quantum entanglement effect created by exotic matter they developed with the help of the Number 4, Misaka suspects. The 'nervous systems' of all their bioweapons are made of it, which in turn effectively made them biological robots that can be controlled remotely by anyone with the know how, Misaka elaborates. Thus toy soldiers on demand, Misaka adds with a snort at the obvious."

"Guys, none of that is important." Mikoto cut the Sisters' discussion off. It was too depressing to listen to. "How many survivors are there? They have to have been tracking them, right?"

The Sisters all exchanged looks and any fragile hope Mikoto had shattered.

"Ah, Onee-sama, Misaka says looking nervous. There are less than three hundred survivors left and dropping due to injuries and lack of medical personnel to aid them, Misaka reports." Genki Girl stated.

And like that, the dam broke and Mikoto broke down. She collapsed to her knees and began to sob uncontrollably.

How could she have been so stupid as to believe that she had a chance of saving anyone? She'd seen the zombie hordes! Fought them even! Seen how numerous they were. She should have known what that meant. But she'd still held onto the childish hope that she could somehow make it in time to save the majority of the Colony's inhabitants.

But now the Level 5 was faced with the awful truth and she couldn't handle it. Confronted by the painful, awful reality all Mikoto could do was bawl her eyes out.

* * *

Naru kicked open the door to a fancy salon in District 3 alongside elements from the Black Crow Unit. She was met almost immediately by a giant in a trench coat and wielding a minigun. Naru just casually sent a vacuum blade to bisect the bioweapon, gun and all. As each side of the vile violation of nature collapsed to either side of where it stood, Naru stepped pass the corpse while dropping small fireballs from both her hands that proceeded to incinerate the disgusting remains.

"You morons are under arrest," Naru ordered, glaring at the dozen or so Parasol scientists and employees cowering before her.

Turning to the accompanying Crows, the Number 2 began barking orders. "Secure them and search the premises. Make sure we don't miss anyone or anything."

"Yes Ma'am," the Crows replied dutifully as they ran off to do as they were told.

While they did so, Naru surveyed the room she was in. It was a swanky little living room that she wouldn't have minded hanging out in herself.

 _Hard to imagine a bunch of Parasol eggheads would use a place like this as their safehouse, but I guess that's the point._

"Mam, we've found something." One of the Crows said as he returned with a suitcase.

Taking it from the man, she popped it open to see two vails resting on a whole bunch of padding.

She snarled, scaring the captured Parasol employees shitless in the process, as she read the labels.

 _[Railgun Cloned Cell Culture] and [Tyrant Cell Culture Type Railgun α]?_ Naru read as she leveled a red-eyed glare at her prisoners.

* * *

Ruiko stared down from the open loading ramp of the transport plane that had brought over the airspace of an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that served as one of Parasol's hidden bases.

Looking down at the base as her plane continued to circle the rig, the [Army Slayer] allowed a bloodthirsty smirk to spread across her face.

"This is the last one," she noted almost wistfully. "I guess I'm done after this."

She took a moment to shuffle through her myriad of templates, until finally deciding on her choices. With a thought, she used some Thermal Hand to freeze the water around the rig then using Telekinesis in conjunction with gravity manipulation and Float Dial she lifted the whole rig into the air, making sure to take all the sea she'd frozen along with some of the seabed it was anchored to as a precaution as well.

Tapping into some Clairvoyance she made sure that she wasn't missing anything. She hadn't.

 _Time for the next step._

With the base now floating above the whirlpool that its removal had created, she let her bloodthirsty smirk grow even wider as she dealt the coup de grâce.

Using her telekinesis she began to rapidly crush the whole floating mass into an ever smaller mass. It soon resembled a large sphere of ice, metal and torn flesh but Ruiko was not yet satisfied. She compressed it further and further until the huge mass was reduced to a sphere that was no bigger than a small car, at which point she emulated Meltdowner and fired the most powerful Particle Waveform High-Speed Cannon she could muster, utterly atomizing all that remained of the Parasol base.

Her task done, she turned away from the loading ramp and began walking back towards the cockpit and the relatively comfy seat that waited there, all while sporting a triumphant grin and ignoring the fearful reactions of the plane's crew as she walked past them.

* * *

It was a week after the Colony Incident and Saten had finally returned to school, something that Mikoto noted immediately. Though that was largely because she'd been waiting for her anxiously. She hadn't been the only one. Namikaze had too and had started looked ragged from all the waiting despite her little bunnies pampering and worrying for her well-being.

Walking up to Saten in the cafeteria during lunch, Mikto asked a single question.

"All done?"

Saten nodded, causing a sense of relief to overcome Mikoto.

"Yes, as far as myself and the City can tell, Parasol is no more." Saten added, giving Mikoto's arm a reassuring squeeze. "They won't be around to trouble anyone with their mad science ever again."

Mikoto just nodded, an intense sense of gratitude welling up inside her.

Before she could say anything however Namikaze popped in on them via a Teleport, it was sudden enough that if Mikoto wasn't so used to Kuroko doing so all the time she would have jumped in surprise.

Patting her back comfortingly, the blonde said, "It's alright Sempai, I rounded up a lot of them in the City. Maybe ended one or two by accident. Still," She turned to Saten, a small smile on her face, "Thanks for breaking that vow of yours again, Saten-chan."

"Considering the circumstances, I was more than willing to once more don the mantle of [Army Slayer]." Saten assured them. "Parasol needed to die."

"Poetic way to put it but yeah," Namikaze agreed. "You sure you're back to normal. You always talk flowery when you're off being a one girl army."

"I might still be shaking off some of the influence," Saten admitted with a shrug.

Naru winced and Mikoto frowned. Saten had explained the [Army Slayer] side of her as pretty damned close to a split personality and Mikoto really didn't want her kohai to set back her growth from being the broken girl she was when they first became friends over Parasol.

"You're sure you're okay?" Mikoto asked worriedly, nervous that her kohai had to do something uncomfortable just for the chestnut haired girl.

"I'm sure," Saten reassured her. "I'll just hang out with the twins or Accel and Last Order a little more this week, that should shake off any lingering traces of the [Army Slayer] from my psyche."

"You go do that." Namikaze urged. "Though I wish the Superintendent would have let me do the external part of the extermination in the first place. Not only would it have saved you all this hassle, it would have been so cathartic too." Namikaze smiled, though it was a touch too bloodthirsty for Mikoto's liking.

"Quiet you two. It doesn't matter who did the deed, as long as they were put down that's all that matters." the [Railgun] informed them, feeling somewhat hollow inside.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless as always!**

 **Man, this was a Halloween-y arc for sure, but it had a semi-happy ending? Well, hopefully we didn't break Mikoto too much. This cutie will not break! ...Right?**

 **Nameless: If canon is any indication, the girl is made of stern stuff but yeah… This was a harrowing experience that would break many people. That said, Mikoto has the support of good friends who can empathise. That and understanding that Saten and Naru both went through similar things as she's endured and survived, will help her loads.**

 **Quick Mikoto! Go cuddle Touma! It's the only way to cope! Or Naru for the yuri fans.**

 **Nameless: Lolz. I betcha Touma would even be up for it. That guy is altruistic to a fault. Which reminds me, anyone watching Index III and being disappointed? I mean the pacing is all over the place. The Document of C arc felt a little bloated at the start to justify fan service then too fast during the fight thus reducing a lot of the tension in the fight and then the Battle Royale arc was just a high-speed trainwreck.**

 **I am actually waiting for the eps to pile up before binging it, but from what Nameless is telling me, it is not shaping out to be what we all have been hoping for. All those years...**

 **Nameless: So before we sign off, let's clarify some references we made. We've borrowed some ideas for the two monsters that feature in this chapter, so let's point out where we took inspiration from:**

 **The super zombie was based on Lisa Trevor from the 2002 Resident Evil remake**

 **The 'end boss' was based of Shou Tucker's final twisted form in the 2003 iteration of Fullmetal Alchemist**

 **Nina why?! You were too young! My anime nightmares!**

 **Anywho, you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


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